{"id":247921,"date":"2026-07-09T08:56:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T08:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/?p=247921"},"modified":"2026-07-09T08:56:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T08:56:27","slug":"how-carbon-offsetting-actually-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2026\/07\/09\/how-carbon-offsetting-actually-works\/","title":{"rendered":"How Carbon Offsetting Actually Works"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carbon offsetting means paying to reduce, avoid, or remove greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere to compensate for emissions you can’t yet eliminate directly. One credit represents one metric tonne of CO\u2082-equivalent (CO\u2082e) reduced, avoided, or removed. When a credit is “retired,” it’s permanently taken out of circulation so it can never be resold or counted twice \u2014 that retirement step is what makes the compensation real.<\/p>\n

How Is a Footprint Calculated?<\/h2>\n

Everyday activity \u2014 driving, flying, home energy, purchases \u2014 is converted into CO\u2082e using emission factors published by bodies like the UK’s DEFRA, the US EPA, and the IEA. Where methane (CH\u2084) or nitrous oxide (N\u2082O) are involved, each gas is converted to CO\u2082e using its Global Warming Potential (GWP) from the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), which sets CH\u2084 at 27.9 and N\u2082O at 273.<\/p>\n

Coffset’s carbon footprint calculator<\/a> applies DEFRA 2024 factors and IPCC AR6 GWP values, and structures business footprints around the GHG Protocol’s three scopes: Scope 1 (direct emissions from owned sources), Scope 2 (purchased electricity and heat), and Scope 3 (everything else in the value chain, from business travel to purchased goods).<\/p>\n

What Happens After You Buy a Credit?<\/h2>\n

Buying and retiring a credit are different events, and the gap between them is where many offsetting programs lose credibility \u2014 a credit can sit unretired in a registry for years, still tradeable, while a company has already claimed the reduction elsewhere.<\/p>\n

On Coffset<\/a>, credits are retired on a public registry \u2014 Verra or Gold Standard, depending on the project \u2014 within 24 hours of purchase, via CNaught’s managed portfolio. Retirement marks that specific tonne as consumed and issues a serial number, which is the real proof of the transaction, not the receipt.<\/p>\n

What Makes an Offset Credible?<\/h2>\n

The Oxford Offsetting Principles (2024), from the University of Oxford’s Smith School, set the widely-referenced framework for quality:<\/p>\n