Corporations push “insetting” as new offsetting but report claims it is even worse

(Climate Home News, 20 Feb 2023) For Nestlé, planting millions of trees in and around plantations supplying its coffee is an ideal “net zero” fix.

This – the Swiss giant says – not only captures carbon from the atmosphere, generating credits to be claimed against its climate targets.

But it also protects crops, reduces water reliance and supports workers on the very farms the company sources materials from.

This practice is called insetting, a term creeping into the “net zero” plans of a rising number of corporations.

Instead of buying carbon credits from unrelated third parties – as they would in traditional offsetting schemes – through insetting, companies invest in carbon reduction or removal projects on their own land or the land of their suppliers.

Critical report

Its emergence comes as more doubts are being cast over the reliability of carbon offsets. A new critical report says this is no coincidence.

External link

Climate Home News, 20 Feb 2023: Corporations push “insetting” as new offsetting but report claims it is even worse