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Carbon offsetting supports environmental conservation and restorative missions while reducing the impact of human’s behavior on the planet. While for many, the aim of carbon offsetting is to address climate concerns, there are several additional important benefits that are often overlooked. Below, Selwyn Duijvestijn explores the advantages of carbon offsetting that complement any program designed with nature-based solutions.

Offsetting Contributes to Carbon Neutrality

The grand goal of carbon offsetting is net-zero carbon emissions. Net zero is a lofty ambition, but one adopted recently by many countries around the world. It refers to creating a balance between the amount of carbon the atmosphere absorbs and the amount that’s emitted by society.

Carbon Credits

Individuals and businesses are increasingly looking for ways to reduce carbon footprints through offsetting. This is a novel approach to decreasing emissions by compensating for emissions made elsewhere.

Carbon credits are a type of permit that signifies 1 ton of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere. These credits can be purchased by an individual, but, more commonly, businesses to recompense carbon dioxide releases that come from industrial production, delivery vehicles or travel.

By purchasing carbon credits, organizations can invest in nature-based solutions that help to mitigate the negative effects of carbon emissions on the environment.

Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation

One of the major advantages of carbon offsetting is the positive impact it has on habitats, ecosystems, and wildlife conservation. This includes improved management and preservation, such as the replanting of forests, and regenerative agriculture. In addition, forest preservation means that the trees and plants can better absorb carbon emissions before they enter the atmosphere.

Economic Opportunities

Another benefit is that it provides economic opportunities for populations in developing countries around the world. Many of these carbon-reducing projects are located in these areas, where the need for profitable growth and environmental conservation is particularly critical.

Carbon offsetting has been shown to improve water sources for those who need it the most in rural or third-world countries. And when carbon offset projects are integrated into underdeveloped nations, it typically introduces new technologies that lead to increased skill development and even brand new workforces on a local level.

The ability to reduce poverty and promote sustainability is one of the main benefits.

Innovation

It also has the potential to accelerate advancements in the environmental sector. As more individuals become interested in reducing their carbon footprint, the demand for innovative and effective “green” solutions grows.

Carbon offsetting commonly takes the forms of alternative, renewable energy sources, which are seen as essential to replace dwindling fossil fuels.

This demand is driving both research and development in the industry, in which new technologies and advancements in environmental conservation and restoration are cultivated.

Carbon Offsetting Helps Everyone

When forests and other lands are preserved, the people benefit in innumerable ways. Beyond improved health, carbon offsetting helps keep communities employed, and protects the livelihood of wildlife and animals used in agriculture.

Additionally, it all comes full circle since such new technologies are often funded through carbon offset pledges.

Conclusion

Taking part in various environmental projects such as planting trees, supporting local communities, taking responsibility for individual environmental impacts, and supporting organizations that protect and restore wildlife ecosystems and biodiversity is so important for a sustainable future.

There have been many great conservation efforts that have taken place over the last few months. Selwyn Duijvestijn discusses below a few of the recent notable successes in the world of conservation.

In the UK efforts to bring back the European Bison resulted in the first calf to be born on British shores in 1000 years. Fin whales once thought to be on the verge of extinction are returning back to ancestral feeding spots. And, the Global Typology of Ecosystems is helping to shape both knowledge and policy for the benefit of everyone.

First European Bison in 1000 Years Born in the UK
In Kent in the UK, the first European Bison was born in September 2022 in over 1000 years.

A small herd of female bison was introduced to the woodland in the county in July of the same year, but conservationists had no idea that one of the cows was pregnant. This is because bison often hide their pregnancies as a survival mechanism, so it was not picked up on when she was initially released.

On September 9th, the bison rangers in charge of monitoring the animals were in for a surprise when the calf emerged from the woods with its mother, marking a historic, if not unplanned, moment for the conservation project.

In the early 20th century, the European Bison was almost extinct, with no wild population. The species only survived thanks to captive animals in zoos, which have been used to gradually restore the bison’s numbers and release them back into the wild.

Fin Whales Making a Comeback

In 2022, marine scientists were able to discover that fin whales were returning to feeding grounds where they have not been for decades.

The species was almost brought to extinction in the 20th century, and so to see these animals returning to the Southern Ocean near Antarctica is good news for the future of these whales and for the planet, as they can help to trap more carbon dioxide in the oceans, helping to slow the effects of global warming.

The future for other whale species is also looking promising, as Iceland appears to be reaching closer to a ban on commercial whaling operations. This would then just leave Japan and Norway as the only nations to continue with the practice.

The Global Typology of Ecosystems

One of the ways in which conservation efforts around the world can be facilitated is by gaining an in-depth understanding of the ecosystems that we need to protect.

Several years of work and research from many prominent scientists culminated in the Global Typology of Ecosystems in October 2022. This detailed list looks at every different ecosystem in the world, and all of the core components and functions that make them unique.

The typology can then be used by organizations and governments in order to set effective targets in order to protect these ecosystems such as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, in turn helping the planet and the lifeforms that make these places their homes.