Carbon Offsets Have an Integrity Problem. COP26 May Help Fix It
- Glasgow decision could improve standards in voluntary markets
- Agreement at summit seen as confidence boost for investors
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The global agreement reached at the United Nations’ COP26 summit in Glasgow last weekend may help solve one of the trickiest problems in climate policy: how to boost confidence in the voluntary market for carbon credits.
Such credits, or offsets, allow companies to pollute at home in exchange for investing in greener projects elsewhere. Voluntary markets are currently something of a Wild West, with no unified standards or governance -- and experts say at least some of the credits they generate do little or nothing to curb climate change.