Dear ETA,
I am a member of the ETA and recently received a mailing through my door advertising 'Carbon Neutral Insurance'. In it the ETA offered to help 'offset' my carbon emissions.
I firmly believe that carbon offsetting is a fraud. It does nothing to mitigate carbon emissions, it simply allows certain organisations to profit from people's guilt at not reducing their pollution.
An FT article in 2007 exposed the fraud that is carbon offsetting, finding:
- Widespread instances of people and organisations buying worthless credits that do not yield any reductions in carbon emissions.
- Industrial companies profiting from doing very little – or from gaining carbon credits on the basis of efficiency gains from which they have already benefited substantially.
- Brokers providing services of questionable or no value.
- A shortage of verification, making it difficult for buyers to assess the true value of carbon credits.
- Companies and individuals being charged over the odds for the private purchase of European Union carbon permits that have plummeted in value because they do not result in emissions cuts.
('Industry caught in carbon ‘smokescreen’' by Fiona Harvey and Stephen Fidler, The FT, April 25 2007)
Furthermore, scientist James Lovelock, who has been investigating and coming up with REAL solutions since the mid-sixties, said in a recent article:
"Carbon offsetting? I wouldn't dream of it. It's just a joke. To pay money to plant trees, to think you're offsetting the carbon? You're probably making matters worse. You're far better off giving to the charity Cool Earth, which gives the money to the native peoples to not take down their forests."
('Enjoy life while you can' by Decca Aitkenhead, The Guardian, March 1 2008)
The ETA should look seriously at its mission in this regard. It has got it seriously wrong. Instead of convincing people to pay a 'Guilt-fee', it should instead be looking at ways to help people 'actually' reduce emissions.
I attempt to do everything I can to realistically reduce my impact on the planet; a part of that is selecting my purchases from and membership of organisations very carefully, based on what I believe to be their actual and claimed sustainability. I chose to join the ETA in protest at the support other breakdown organisations give to road expansion plans. I am now reconsidering my membership of the ETA, but it may come down to the lesser of many evils.
Yours,
Kevin Beynon
Links:
- 'Industry caught in carbon smokescreen' the FT
- 'Enjoy life while you can' the Guardian
