Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Carbon offsets are sold as a way to balance out your emissions, like some kind of climate penance—you burn jet fuel, but hey, at least someone, somewhere, plants a tree, so it's all good, right? Well, that’s the sales pitch. But let’s take a step back because something about it has never quite added up for me.
The last time I booked flights to Europe I could pay about $75 to "offset" a flight from Australia to Europe. Meanwhile, the aviation industry screams that a carbon tax would destroy them. Really? A $75 charge on top of a $2000 ticket is enough to cripple an industry? Come on. That alone should set off alarm bells.
So what’s really going on with carbon offsets? Are they a legitimate tool for reducing emissions, or just a convenient excuse to keep business as usual? Let’s break it down.
If you would like to help develop the Engineering with Rosie channel, you could consider joining the Patreon community, where there is a chat community (and Patreon-only Discord server) about topics covered in the videos and suggestions for future videos and production quality improvements. patreon.com/engineeringwithrosie
Or for a one-off contribution you can support by buying a coffee ☕️ here —
buymeacoffee.com/engwithrosie
Bookmarks:
00:00 Intro
00:59 Original vision of carbon offsets
02:11 Categories of offsets
03:21 The problems with offsets
06:15 Independent certification bodies
08:59 Billion-dollar greenwashing industry
10:43 Can offsets be fixed?
11:06 What happens when we actually reach net zero?
13:59 Conclusion
Sources:
reuters.com/markets/commodities/global-carbon-markets-value-hit-record-949-bln-last-year-lseg-2024-02-12
caryinstitute.org/news-insights/media-coverage/top-us-seller-carbon-offsets-starts-investigating-its-own-projects
carbonplan.org/research/buffer-pool-burning
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5373553
mdpi.com/1999-4907/16/3/407?utm_source
ecosystemmarketplace.com/publications/state-of-the-voluntary-carbon-markets-2022
apl.com/shipping/cmacgm-plus-services/environmental-services/carbon-offset-projects
ecosystemmarketplace.com/publications/2024-state-of-the-voluntary-carbon-markets-sovcm
https://www.ncmc.sua.ac.tz/news/2023-carbon-market-declines-whats-ahead-in-2024
theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe
zeit.de/2023/04/co2-zertifikate-betrug-emissionshandel-klimaschutz
source-material.org/vercompanies-carbon-offsetting-claims-inflated-methodologies-flawed
verra.org/verra-response-guardian-rainforest-carbon-offsets
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.13970
news.mongabay.com/2024/12/loggers-and-carbon-projects-forge-odd-partnerships-in-the-brazilian-amazon
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3950103
https://reporter.anu.edu.au/all-stories/forest-regeneration-projects-failing-to-offset-carbon-emissions
carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Error-log-Exposing-the-methodological-failures-of-REDD-forestry-projects.pdf
carboncredits.com/carbon-prices-today
news.justia.com/delta-air-lines-sued-for-carbon-neutral-misrepresentation
datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/microsoft-accused-of-greenwashing-due-to-fossil-fuel-partnerships
https://www.calix.global/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LEILAC-Techno-economic-Summary-2021.pdf
energy-transitions.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ETC-sectoral-focus-Aviation_final.pdf
The Engineering with Rosie team is:
Rosemary Barnes: presenter, producer, writer
Javi Diez: editor linkedin.com/in/javierdiezsuarez/?locale=en_US
Carbon offsets are sold as a way to balance out your emissions, like some kind of climate penance—you burn jet fuel, but hey, at least someone, somewhere, plants a tree, so it's all good, right? Well, that’s the sales pitch. But let’s take a step back because something about it has never quite added up for me.
The last time I booked flights to Europe I could pay about $75 to "offset" a flight from Australia to Europe. Meanwhile, the aviation industry screams that a carbon tax would destroy them. Really? A $75 charge on top of a $2000 ticket is enough to cripple an industry? Come on. That alone should set off alarm bells.
So what’s really going on with carbon offsets? Are they a legitimate tool for reducing emissions, or just a convenient excuse to keep business as usual? Let’s break it down.
If you would like to help develop the Engineering with Rosie channel, you could consider joining the Patreon community, where there is a chat community (and Patreon-only Discord server) about topics covered in the videos and suggestions for future videos and production quality improvements. patreon.com/engineeringwithrosie
Or for a one-off contribution you can support by buying a coffee ☕️ here —
buymeacoffee.com/engwithrosie
Bookmarks:
00:00 Intro
00:59 Original vision of carbon offsets
02:11 Categories of offsets
03:21 The problems with offsets
06:15 Independent certification bodies
08:59 Billion-dollar greenwashing industry
10:43 Can offsets be fixed?
11:06 What happens when we actually reach net zero?
13:59 Conclusion
Sources:
reuters.com/markets/commodities/global-carbon-markets-value-hit-record-949-bln-last-year-lseg-2024-02-12
caryinstitute.org/news-insights/media-coverage/top-us-seller-carbon-offsets-starts-investigating-its-own-projects
carbonplan.org/research/buffer-pool-burning
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5373553
mdpi.com/1999-4907/16/3/407?utm_source
ecosystemmarketplace.com/publications/state-of-the-voluntary-carbon-markets-2022
apl.com/shipping/cmacgm-plus-services/environmental-services/carbon-offset-projects
ecosystemmarketplace.com/publications/2024-state-of-the-voluntary-carbon-markets-sovcm
https://www.ncmc.sua.ac.tz/news/2023-carbon-market-declines-whats-ahead-in-2024
theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe
zeit.de/2023/04/co2-zertifikate-betrug-emissionshandel-klimaschutz
source-material.org/vercompanies-carbon-offsetting-claims-inflated-methodologies-flawed
verra.org/verra-response-guardian-rainforest-carbon-offsets
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.13970
news.mongabay.com/2024/12/loggers-and-carbon-projects-forge-odd-partnerships-in-the-brazilian-amazon
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3950103
https://reporter.anu.edu.au/all-stories/forest-regeneration-projects-failing-to-offset-carbon-emissions
carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Error-log-Exposing-the-methodological-failures-of-REDD-forestry-projects.pdf
carboncredits.com/carbon-prices-today
news.justia.com/delta-air-lines-sued-for-carbon-neutral-misrepresentation
datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/microsoft-accused-of-greenwashing-due-to-fossil-fuel-partnerships
https://www.calix.global/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LEILAC-Techno-economic-Summary-2021.pdf
energy-transitions.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ETC-sectoral-focus-Aviation_final.pdf
The Engineering with Rosie team is:
Rosemary Barnes: presenter, producer, writer
Javi Diez: editor linkedin.com/in/javierdiezsuarez/?locale=en_US
