Analysis says most carbon ‘offsets’ by big companies do nothing

Many prominent brands have started buying carbon credits in order to offset their emission levels and neutralise their environmental impact. Scientific analysis shows these are largely worthless.

As big companies attempt to appear more eco-conscious in the eyes of their customers, many have started to boast partnerships with rainforest conservation organisations around the world.

For example, major brands like Gucci, Shell, and Disney buy carbon offsets/credits that ‘cancel out’ the number of emissions spewed into the atmosphere in order to provide their products and services.

While saying that ‘buying X product supports the protection of XXX trees in the Amazon’ is a rather cute concept, whether that actually happens or not has remained virtually impossible for consumers to verify.

But now, a thorough investigation by a team of journalists is suggesting that the vast majority of these offsetting schemes are not backed up by the necessary scientific methods to make such claims.