Who buys carbon offsets?
The vast majority of credit buyers in the 2007 voluntary markets were private businesses (79%). Approximately two-thirds of their credits were purchased to immediately offset emissions, with the remaining third bought for investment purposes. Source: State of the Voluntary Carbon Market 2008 Q: How does someone choose what kind of carbon offsets to buy? A: For voluntary purchases, “additionality” – the demonstrable ability to reduce emissions beyond the levels that would otherwise have occurred – remained the primary criteria for selecting an offset provider in 2007, consistent with 2006. Environmental and social co-benefits were also ranked highly.
Many financial companies and industrial emitters are currently purchasing carbon offsets for future compliance in existing regional cap-and-trade systems and in anticipation of a federal cap-and-trade program. In addition, many corporations in the United States are also purchasing offsets as part of “green” marketing.
