Marisa de Belloy, the CEO of Cool Effect, a crowdfunding site for carbon offset projects including some certified by Climate Action Reserve, says, “Carbon offsets can reduce current atmospheric carbon in the case of afforestation projects (where trees are planted), but other projects reduce emissions going into the atmosphere today and in the future. So, offsets are an important tool to reduce emissions overall. There are in fact ways to confirm a carbon offset is legitimate, and is verifiably reducing carbon emissions,” de Belloy explains. “When reviewing projects, ensure the project has received verification from one of the world’s major carbon standards—the Gold Standard, the Verified Carbon Standard, Climate Action Reserve, American Carbon Registry, or the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism.”
