[s9e21] Carbon Offsets ●

The episode begins by highlighting how major corporations—from airlines to oil giants—heavily promote their "carbon-neutral" status. They do this by purchasing , certificates representing the removal or prevention of one metric ton of CO2cap C cap O sub 2 elsewhere in the world to "cancel out" their own emissions. The Core Problem: Additionality

The story of refers to the main segment of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver , which aired on August 21, 2022 . The episode dives into the "Wild West" of the voluntary carbon market, exploring why these popular tools for achieving "net-zero" goals are often deeply flawed. The Premise: The "Net-Zero" Illusion [S9E21] Carbon Offsets

The episode details several high-profile examples of carbon offset failures: The episode dives into the "Wild West" of

: Many projects, particularly large-scale renewable energy farms or forests that were never under threat, would have existed anyway. They allow companies to avoid the more difficult

Mapped: The impacts of carbon-offset projects around the world

The story concludes that while offsets could theoretically help, they are currently used as a tool for . They allow companies to avoid the more difficult task of actually cutting their own emissions at the source by simply throwing money at questionable projects.

: Oliver points to instances where "protected" forests used for offsets burned down in wildfires, releasing the stored carbon back into the atmosphere and rendering the previous "offset" moot. The "Greenwashing" Trap