By Kimberly Newton de Klootwyk
(Draft)
For the last few years, I have been working with organizations or for organizations that are considering carbon offsets for their projects. I have also been reading about the new trend and its advances in a cursory way - I am a far cry from an expert on this topic.
However, since my time working in Costa Rica on rain forest conservation projects, and my "Bigger Picture" epiphany, I often analyze any new well-meaning trend for its long term sustainability and its potential social impact and layers of complexity.
So far, within my limited scope of knowledge, I have come across the following interesting situations that raise multidisciplinary questions -
1- Carbon offsets that are related to mono crop non-native tree plantations - how is that environmentally sustainable? What a missed opportunity to plant a diverse native tree forest, rather than a monocrop non-native species that cannot feed or adjust to local ecosystem - or that may even hurt it.
2 - Carbon offsets as a way for foreigners to buy up huge tracks of cheap land in hot spot conservation and tourism areas and effectively, make this a good investment opportunity because the land maintenance pretty much pays for itself and a profit can be made. Poor desperate farmers living in the rain forest are seeing more and more foreigners buy up their lands for pennies on the dollar - their displacement means that they will add to the swarm of migrant labor moving to developed areas and their carbon footprint will probably triple or more (need more studies here). In addition to the social and ecological impact of mass migration and land being concentrated yet again in the hands of the few, landless peasants are considered to be one of the top causes of deforestation (~40%- need to look up my source_) because they go and squat on other lands - clearing and burning them to create a new rural settlement. We know that deforestation is one of the main reasons for climate change so what is the carbon footprint of this story being played out globally? And if farms are being converted to tree plantations and local agriculturla production goes down, where will the food come from to feed the people? Will they have to import the food from afar? Doesn't importing food from afar mean more carbon footprint vis a vis the transportation of the food? Carbon offset purchasers who are genuinely interested in curbing climate change or have social justice values, must consider these factors.
3- On the above point - not sure if this is a guideline already being used, but it makes the most sense for the carbon offset of an activity to be offset as near to the source of the carbon "footprint" as possible - this in part to give back to the local community where damage is being done and to also assure that the carbon offset activities are in alignment with local community development plans, include local stakeholders, employ locals for carbon offset related activities, etc.
(End of Draft)
