Article publication Strong transparency required for carbon credit mechanisms par Philippe Delacote, Tara L’Horty, Andreas Kontoleon, Thales A. P. West, Anna Creti, Ben Filewod, Gwenole LeVelly, Alejandro Guizar-Coutiño, Ben Groom & Micah Elias in Nature Sustainability review.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01310-0
The credibility of carbon offset mechanisms is threatened by many issues related to their true effectiveness. We advocate that these issues cannot be effectively addressed without a dramatic improvement in transparency across the entire value chain of carbon offsetting, a crucial step for achieving a reduction in carbon emissions. Voluntary carbon credits have emerged as a key financing mechanism to scale up reforestation and forest conservation, climate-friendly agriculture and the clean energy transition, as well as activities such as waste management and improved cookstoves. Carbon credits can be used by private firms for offsetting their own emissions, for corporate social responsibility purposes or as pilots for compliance markets.