Monday 10 March 2008

"Offsetting should only be an option when every effort has been made to avoid or reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Kirsty Clough, Climate Change Policy Officer at WWF-UK.

"Only when all other avenues have been exhausted should consumers think of offsetting, using Gold Standard credits," she added.

Making Sense of the Voluntary Carbon Market - a Comparison of Carbon Offset Standards is an independent report commissioned by WWF.

The report rates the seven main standards on the market and of these, the Gold Standard performed particularly highly.

Gold Standard is an independent, internationally recognized benchmark for carbon offset projects that was created by environmental and development NGOs, including WWF, and is currently supported by 51 NGOs from around the world.

"WWF believes that people should be able to trust that the carbon offsets they are purchasing come from high-quality projects, which are actually helping to combat climate change," said Clough.

The voluntary market for carbon offsets is a small but fast growing industry, but while WWF welcomes increased awareness of the need to cut carbon pollution, it also urges consumers and business leaders to use offsetting only as the final part of a three-pronged approach known as 'avoid, reduce, then offset'.

"If carbon offsets are to be credible, and if businesses want to avoid being accused of 'greenwashing,' the projects they finance must have clear social and environmental benefits. Otherwise, offsetting will be seen as the rich transferring responsibility for tackling climate change to the developing world," concluded Clough.