The Oxford Principles For Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting

Authors

Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment

Publication

University of Oxford, September 2020.

Summary

As part of their climate strategies, many companies, organisations, cities, regions, and financial institutions are relying on voluntary carbon offsetting—payment to receive credit for a certified unit of emission reduction or removal carried out by another actor. Current best practice helps to reduce some of the well-known risks associated with existing offsets (e.g. improper carbon accounting, re-release of stored carbon, negative unintended impacts on humans or ecosystems, etc.), but is unlikely to deliver the types of offsetting needed to ultimately reach net zero emissions. The Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting (the “Oxford Offsetting Principles”) presented here outline how offsetting needs to be approached to ensure it helps achieve a net zero society.