As the climate crisis worsens, more and more companies are committing to go “net-zero”. Most of these commitments include the purchase of carbon offsets or investment in negative emissions projects, designed to offset the emissions resulting from companies’ operations.
The carbon offset market is in high demand due to this surge of net-zero pledges, but does the market actually work? How can companies be sure their dollars are removing carbon that otherwise wouldn’t be removed from the atmosphere? And what are the risks of a market that doesn’t uphold its promise of truly offsetting emissions?
Dr. Mark Trexler of the Climatographers and Derik Broekhoff of the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) joined Climate Now to discuss the carbon offset market, what’s wrong with it, and what its future could be.
Featuring:

Derik Broekhoff
Senior Scientist at the Stockholm Environment Institute

Derik Broekhoff
Senior Scientist at the Stockholm Environment Institute

Derik Broekhoff is a Senior Scientist with the Stockholm Environment Institute and the former Vice President of Policy at Climate Action Reserve, which is a carbon offset registry.

Mark Trexler
Director of Climate Change Knowledge Systems at the Climatographers

Mark Trexler
Director of Climate Change Knowledge Systems at the Climatographers

Mark Trexler is the Director of Climate Change Knowledge Systems at the Climatographers. He was a Chapter Editor on carbon accounting and carbon offsets for the IPCC’s Special Report on Land Use and Land Use Change, and holds a PhD in International Environmental Policy from UC-Berkeley.
Hosted By:

James Lawler
Climate Now Host

James Lawler
Climate Now Host


Katherine Gorman
Climate Now Host

Katherine Gorman
Climate Now Host

Katherine Gorman is a podcast host for Climate Now. She has worked for terrestrial public radio stations across the US, and is also co-host of the podcast “The Talking Machines”. She is excited to democratize the climate conversation and to learn and share knowledge from experts in the field.
Further Reading:
https://archive.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/sres/land_use/index.php?idp=0
https://carbonoffsetsround2.climatesites.net
Should You Buy Carbon Offsets? ebook – https://www.theclimateweb.com/ebook-buy-carbon-offsets/