What to know about carbon offset projects

Here’s why the program has landed in the Adirondacks

By Chloe Bennett

Carbon credits, permits that represent 1 ton of carbon dioxide, were the focus of a recent measure in the New York State budget. The Department of Environmental Conservation and the State Energy Research and Development Authority are developing the initiative, which would place a limit on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions emitted by companies in the state. The program would contribute to the state’s climate goal of reaching a net-zero emission status of 1990 levels by 2050.

Unlike a zero-emissions scenario, the state’s net-zero goal allows for 15% of reductions to come from offset projects, which trade carbon credits for pollution. In the case of forest offset projects, landowners are paid to conserve their trees while companies count the carbon storage against their emissions.

Large corporations like Disney, Amazon and Delta Airlines and oil giants such as BP have invested in carbon offset projects to claim a smaller emissions footprint. Forestry projects are enrolled in the compliance market, overseen by the government, or the voluntary market, which employs third-party certifiers to standardize the programs. For carbon offset projects to be effective, experts and certifiers say they should meet these basic criteria:

Additionality: Offsets should generate an additional amount of carbon sequestration that would not exist without the project. If the land is not at risk of some form of degradation, it’s unlikely that the project would produce additionality. 

Accurate carbon accounting: Some projects within the voluntary and compliance markets might have their carbon storage capabilities overestimated. So, carbon accounting can be performed by on-the-ground experts and updated through remote sensing, a technology becoming more common.

Permanence: There should be a level of durability or permanence to the project, a factor outlined in its contract. Trees can hold carbon for generations until disturbed by harvests, fire or wind. Compliance projects regulated by California last a minimum of 100 years, while voluntary market standards vary. 

Avoid leakage: In some cases, forest offset projects can lead to increased tree cutting elsewhere. “The people who were looking for timber are likely to just go to a neighboring property and see if they could talk the landowner into selling some timber,” said Charles Canham, a senior scientist emeritus with the Cary Institute in Millbrook and member of the Adirondack Land Trust board. “So the problem is that if you reduce harvest from your land, does that just lead to greater demand on other lands?”

What do carbon offset projects have to do with the Adirondacks?

Half of the land in the Adirondacks is state-owned and will remain wild under Article 14 of the New York State Constitution. But the other 50% is private and generally subject to development or tree harvest by its owners. 

According to data compiled by the Adirondack Explorer, there are hundreds of thousands of acres of North Country land used for carbon offset projects. Essex, Franklin, St. Lawrence and Lewis counties are home to much of the acreage. 

Criticism of the carbon offset industry has surfaced in recent years from scientists and those involved in such projects. Forests act as carbon sinks, storing the greenhouse gas for many years in trees, soil, leaves and other features. But offsets also allow companies to continue polluting the atmosphere. 

“I think this is a perfect example of greenwashing,” Canham said of the carbon offset industry. 

“Companies can claim practices that sound good but don’t actually achieve what’s implied by the practice,” he added.

A March 2022 study from the University of Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy found shortcomings of offset protocols that exaggerate positive climate impacts. “If they generate more credits than their actual impact, they can reduce and obscure the efficacy of climate change mitigation efforts,” the researchers wrote. 

But some argue that carbon offsets are necessary to achieve climate goals such as New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. John Bartow, executive director of the Empire State Forest Products Association, said the projects can help by filling in emissions reduction gaps. 

“We’re going to ultimately, at some point, run out of the ability to decarbonize, and that’s where net-zero comes into play, saying, all right, we can’t get it all, but we can offset that impact,” Bartow said. “So yes, I do believe that there is a role, and a significant role, for carbon offsets.”

Editor’s note: This story is part of continuing coverage of the carbon credit issue in the Adirondack Park. Look for more in the September/October issue of Adirondack Explorer magazine. Click here to subscribe.