I’ve been musing on the recent furore at the SBTi over the role of offsets in Net Zero targets, where staff called for their CEO to resign over a new policy on offsets in Scope 3 (supply chain and product use) emissions. I had kind of assumed that we had moved away from the days of offsets being likened to buying indulgences in medieval Europe, but they clearly inflame passions to this day.

Call me an engineer, but I don’t see a moral angle to offsets. To me, the only question is: do they work or don’t they? Personally, I would love offsetting to work as it could provide a wonderful opportunity to funnel finance into green projects, but their track record remains patchy at best and seriously dubious at worst.

So what should the Sustainability professional do? My advice is not to be distracted by offsets and focus 100% of your efforts on reducing your carbon footprint by at least 90%, preferably 100%. Look at offsets as a wee bit of wriggle room on a Net Zero target rather than a core delivery mechanism. Then when you approach your target deadline you can make a decision on offsets, or an alternative such as insetting (eg planting trees on your own land) – or a pet project project such as insulating social housing. If it’s a worthwhile project, then any carbon shortcomings are less important.

In other words, focus on the Zero first and the Net second.