Climate Science and Policy

Carbon offsets are features of emissions reduction policies where a carbon emitting entity can pay for atmospheric carbon to be sequestered or emissions to be avoided elsewhere to subtract this amount of carbon from their total emissions. Where emissions reductions are required by law, carbon offsets give carbon emitting entities flexibility in how they meet emissionsreductions. In addition, some carbon emitting entities choose to voluntarily invest in offsets to meet their own zero net emissions goals.

The San Diego region many opportunities for potential offsets. San Diego County incorporated carbon offsets as an addition to their climate action plan but faces legal challenge from the Sierra Club over the integrity of the policy they designed, specifically about the unbounded geographicdistance allowed between offset projects and emissions sources. In 2021, the State of California will increase stringency on carbon offsets by cutting the percent of emissions reductions that can be accounted for by offsets in half and requiring half of them to be local. Simultaneously, voluntary offsets are becoming more and more popular.