Are ‘Carbon Offsets’ a Credible Climate Solution?: QuickTake

You’ll hear lots of pledges from companies and governments to cut the greenhouse gases they release to “net-zero.” That’s because they need to completely halt their release of carbon emissions to avoid some of the worst consequences of climate change. But how to get there? In many cases, it may prove too costly to go all the way to zero. That’s where the concept of carbon offsets comes in, though their use is controversial.

1. What’s a carbon offset?

The idea is that when a company, government or individual releases greenhouse gases, they can pay someone else to remove an ...