The quality of CO2-certificates is very different. A recent search by the Zeit, the Guardian and the investigative platform Source Materialthat a large proportion of CO2-offsets from Verra (one of the largest certification companies) were worthless. These were primarily forest conservation projects.
"The scandal shows that better regulation is needed,’ says Joachim Thaler in a recently published article by Der Standard (read here).
There are indeed meaningful projects that can be financed through certificates. For example, BOKU runs projects for water treatment in Uganda, waste composting in Ethiopia and reforestation in Costa Rica.
An overview of the BOKU climate protection projects can be found here.
We also recommend the Federal Environment Agency's guide on the subject Voluntary CO2 compensation through climate protection projects to get an overview of what you should consider if you want to support climate protection projects.
The voluntary CO2-Carbon offsetting offers an opportunity to support climate protection measures globally and to contribute to climate financing with private funds. However, the top priority for companies and private individuals must always be to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions. According to Joachim Thaler, offsetting payments can only supplement this.
It makes sense to use a CO2-balance sheet and draw up a concrete climate roadmap. You can find out more about this in our other blog articles, e.g. here.
