Carbon offsets fail to cut global heating due to ‘intractable’ systemic problems, study says

Analysis of 25 years of evidence shows most schemes are poor quality and fail to lower emissions

The failure of carbon offsets to cut planet-heating pollution is not due to a few bad apples", a review paper has found, but down to deep-seated systemic problems that incremental change will not solve.

Research over two decades has found intractable" problems that have made carbon credits in most big programmes poor quality, according to the study. While the industry and diplomats have made efforts to improve the system, it found much-awaited rules agreed at a UN climate summit last year did not substantially address the quality problem".