Caught Offside with Offsets?

Rising awareness of the climate emergency means many in the world of sport - clubs, events, fans - are turning to offsetting as a well-intentioned way to compensate for the impact of their emissions. This briefing explores why that may be a mistake, why offsetting in its current form does not do what its name implies, and why, under certain circumstances, it can even be damaging. The problem with offsetting is that:

• Offsetting doesn’t work - in its current form scientific evidence suggests that offsetting doesn’t deliver on its promises.

• It can cause real harm - both in terms of direct failure, but also in terms of the impact of offsetting projects on local communities, economies, and the natural world.

• It is a form of carbon laundering - attempting to offset stable stores of fossil carbon with unstable stores like trees, which face multiple threats in our warming world, may mask the true climate impact.

• The system can be gamed - through accounting tricks and murky carbon markets, offsets can be misallocated on a mass scale, which often means there is no reduction in overall emissions.

• It provides an excuse to continue polluting - Offsetting can justify and legitimise the status quo, allowing organisations to continue polluting while claiming leadership and progress on sustainable and environmental issues.

• It inhibits real change - the cost and convenience of offsetting means that the more challenging structural decisions required to address sport’s climate impact may be delayed. As an approach, offsetting may restrict our thinking and ambition around how sport can drive climate solutions and as part of a thriving planet.