All offsetting schemes work by spending money on 'good schemes' as a way to 'balance' your emissions. The idea is that if your factories are pumping out 100 tonnes of carbon, then plant the equivalent about of trees somewhere to capture 100 tones and you're even right? But how long does it take for those trees to be effective? Have they actually been planted?

Although these schemes are better than the vacuous 'carbon neutral' label. The idea of a global balance is more about the perception of net-zero than the reality of the damage emissions are doing at source (aka 'Scope 1' emissions).

Its fantastic that this scheme is so transparent and open - and companies are encouraged to reduce emissions. As long as there's an ID number this logo you can look them up online and see what they're actually* doing in relation to setting carbon targets and reducing emissions. But fundamentally 'off-setting' is about reassurance rather than reality.

The boring fact is that production (and consumption) needs reform.

* It's not clear whether this is all self-certified. We can't find anything to suggest otherwise.