Almost every developed nation (except the United States) has ratified the Kyoto agreement; 39 of those countries have passed national, legally-binding emissions- reduction targets. Recently the world’s two largest developing nations, China and India, have begun designing their own domestic programs to curb carbon output. Twenty five American states have enacted laws to reduce their carbon footprint and, with new leadership in Washington, we Americans may soon join the rest of the developed world in a sustained effort to reduce and offset our very large carbon footprint. There are numerous ways to reduce and offset carbon and it is likely that plants will play a significant role.

The international effort to limit global temperature rise through an assortment of programs is well underway, with carbon-offset projects playing a prominent role. In fact, carbon offsets have become main stream in the media and among socially responsible corporations and communities. The New Oxford American Dictionary chose “carbon neutral” as the Word of the Year for 2006. With public awareness of the role carbon emissions play in climate change, the pressure to take action likely will keep increasing; consequently many firms, individuals and institutions are deciding to take an active role in reducing their carbon footprint through the purchase of offsets.

What are Carbon Offsets?

All fossil fuel-powered vehicles, power plants and factories emit CO2 during operation. If you engage in a carbon producing activity you can counteract or offset that activity with a carbon-reducing activity.

Commercial aircraft are no exception and collectively contribute a significant share of annual global emissions. Offsetting air travel provides a good example of how an individual can offset their carbon footprint. It works like this: perhaps you fly on a commercial carrier from Boston to Los Angeles and you would like to do it without contributing to the Global Warming problem.

First, you would use one of the many online carbon calculators (www.carbonfootprint.com ) to determine your share of the CO2 emitted by the aircraft in which you are flying. The calculator would determine the number of tons of carbon you were responsible for; you would then pay a carbon-offset provider so much per ton to offset the carbon you produced by taking that trip. That offset provider would invest your money in a project meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and you would get credit for a share equal to the carbon for which you were liable on your flight.

Because climate change is a non-localized problem, it doesn’t matter where the emissions are reduced. Greenhouse gases spread evenly throughout the atmosphere, so reducing them anywhere contributes to protecting the climate everywhere. North Americans and Europeans have a very large carbon footprint; the average American’s annual carbon footprint is just over 20 tons. Offsetting is perhaps the best way for environmentally- conscious consumers, businesses and governments to continue their current practices, while at the same time contributing to climate protection.

Carbon offset projects fall into several different categories, which include:

1) Renewable energy projects such as solar, wind energy, and bio-digesters which utilize methane emissions from garbage and agricultural waste to generate electricity;

2) Energy efficiency projects that reduce emissions by using less energy to accomplish the same task;

3) Biosequestration projects through the planting and protection of forest, improved land- management practices such as no-till agricultural, and the direct injection of CO2 emitted from coal-fired power plants into the ground.

Each of these areas works, though some do so better than others. For example the Pacific Northwest old-growth forests of the U.S. hold huge amounts of carbon, yet their storage capacity is mostly depleted and any new carbon they absorb is offset by the rich decomposing matter in their understory. In addition, studies have shown that dark-colored coniferous forest in the higher-latitudes may actually reduce snow cover and absorb the sun’s heat instead of reflecting it. Actively-growing trees, however, do have an excellent capacity as long-lasting carbon reservoirs. In addition, tree planting seems to have captured the imagination of many and no doubt will play a significant role in the offset picture.

At this point, renewable energy projects and direct sequestration provide the greatest reductions.

How do Offsets Work?

There are several issues surrounding carbon offsets, and the way these issues are resolved can enhance or diminish their value. As mentioned above, almost every developed nation has ratified the Kyoto agreement, while 39 of those countries have passed national, legally-binding emissions reduction targets. The UN calls these “Annex B countries.” The Annex B countries and the 23 American states that have enacted carbon reduction targets are required by law to reduce carbon emissions.

The implementation of these targets is anything but simple. For example, if a carbon-offset project is implemented by a private offset provider in an Annex B country, the offset will be double counted. The purchaser will count the emission reduction, but because there is currently no regulatory system requiring those emissions to be retired (taken out of the system) the reduction will also be counted in that country’s greenhouse gas inventory. Every Annex B country is required to implement policies and projects to achieve the reduction that Kyoto mandates, so in addition to the double-counting problem, purchasing offsets in these areas may result in something called “additionality,” i.e., the project would have happened anyway.

“Additionality” and other problems will eventually be addressed, so the rush is on for rich counties to fund projects in underdeveloped countries where the greatest gains can be made at the lowest costs. Strict standards, oversight and verification to ensure that the benefits outweigh the negative impacts is currently lacking. In addition, the pressure for new projects, driven by expanding demand, may potentially displace poor populations and threaten human rights in underdeveloped countries.

Purchasing Offsets

Carbon offsets are currently sold two ways: either in mandatory or voluntary markets. The mandatory cap-and-trade regimes of the Kyoto protocol, such as the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme and the regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative launched by several American states, are large and expanding markets.

These markets are driven by the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol allowing industrialized countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment to invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own countries. The CDM is supervised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Carbon projects that are implemented through the CDM have to go through an in-depth review and verification, meet clearly spelled-out standards and have reductions legally guaranteed by a third-party verifier.

In the voluntary market, companies can sell Certified Emissions Reductions (CER) or they can opt to sell offsets created outside the CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) which are called Verified Emission Reductions (VER’s). VER’s are less expensive, but there is no unified quality standard, and third-party verification is not required. A simple web search will yield many of these VER providers such as the ones listed in the chart above.

Voluntary Programs that Offset Carbon

A good example of an effective voluntary program is the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), “Plant for the Planet.” This program is an ambitious worldwide effort to plant trees for the environment. “The idea for the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign was inspired by Professor Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 2004 and founder of Kenya’s Green Belt Movement. The Green Belt Movement is responsible for planting more than 30 million trees in 12 African countries since 1977. When a corporate group in the United States told Professor Maathai it was planning to plant a million trees, her response was, “That’s great, but what we really need is to plant a billion trees.”

Under the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign, people, communities, organizations, business and industry, civil society and governments are being encouraged to plant trees and enter their tree-planting pledges on the web site. The objective is to plant at least one billion trees worldwide each year. A visit to their website, www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign, will provide details on how you can join this worldwide effort.

Native Trees and Carbon Reduction

It seems clear that a global climate change is well underway and that atmospheric carbon is at unprecedented levels. It also seems likely that any effort to reduce humanity’s collective carbon foot print will include the use of indigenous plants as part of the overall reduction toolbox.

Extensive work is being conducted on the forest-climate relationship. Vattenfall, a Swedish energy firm, has examined the potential for large-scale foresting of wasteland to sequester carbon. This firm concluded that there are approximately 1.86 billon hectares of degraded land in the world. This includes land that was once grassland, forested or farmed. Of this, they believe that nearly half, 930 million hectares, has the potential to be reclaimed. Most of the reclaimable land in the Vattenfall study, however, is in the tropical environs where much of the so-called underdeveloped world resides and where Kyoto-mandated CDM countries are searching for the least expensive offset projects.

Studies suggest that a single mature tree, on average, can absorb 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year and release enough oxygen to support two humans. The U.S. Forest Service estimates that the combined total of forests in the United States sequesters approximately 309 million tons of carbon per year. This was enough to offset approximately 25% of all U.S. human–caused emissions of carbon from 1952 to 1992. Not bad, but still a long way from offsetting the three trillion pounds of carbon annually produced by the American transportation system in 2007.

While the greatest sustainable offsets are probably found in conservation and increased efficiency, the restoration and enhancements of native habitats will no doubt still be a major carbon-offset contributor as the full expectations of the Kyoto Protocol come to fruition.