For developed countries, Carbon Offseting means “to reduce or avoid Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) elsewhere in developing countries...”

Let us take for example someone whose plane trips (2 return trips Paris/New York) result in the emission of 5 tons of CO2. This person invests in a project which will avoid, in Africa for instance, the emission of 5 tons of CO2 (i.e. he purchases from a specialised service provider carbon credits totalling 5 tons of CO2, for approximately a hundred Euros). He has thus prevented the emission of 5 tons of CO2, offsetting his emissions. By preventing these emissions, this represents a real benefit to the planet.

For example, this financing has helped to set up solar panels in Africa to produce clean energy. Without this solar panel project, the electricity would have been produced with a generator consuming diesel; we have prevented CO2 emission associated with the use of the generator... Agricultural waste can also be used to generate energy (this avoids CO2 emissions which would have been produced by consuming diesel), or help households to reduce their consumption of non-sustainable wood for cooking (less wood burned, fewer emissions).

Carbon offset can involve private individuals, as in the example given above, but first and foremost, it relates to companies in developed countries.

Carbon offset must only come into play for removing irreducible emissions, those which remain after having undertaken reduction measures; in other words, the priority in developed countries is to reduce emissions. However, those which are impossible to reduce because of the current state of technology, or because it is too expensive at present, can be offset.

Fundamentally, carbon offset (or CO2 offset), is a way to do more; more than what is done to reduce one’s own emissions. It is also a way to transfer clean technologies to developing countries. Without this, a good number of “green” technologies (for example creating energy from biomass) would not be accessible to them.

Carbon offset enables developing countries:
- to receive clean technologies for their development and energy production

- to reduce their dependence on oil

- to limit deforestation.