Does carbon offsetting actually work? - What in the World podcast, BBC World Service

Carbon offsetting is a way to try to balance carbon emissions. It’s when an individual, company or governments invest in projects that try to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, to compensate for their own carbon footprint.

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Many of the schemes - like planting trees, protecting forests or switching to cleaner fuels - are set up in places like Africa or South America.

But how do these schemes work in practice? Do they actually reduce the overall amount of carbon in the air? Are they just a distraction or worse - a con? BBC climate and science reporter Esme Stallard answers our questions.

And Joshua Gabriel Oluwaseyi, a 24 year old climate activist in Nigeria, gives us his view on the impact carbon offsetting schemes have had in Nigeria - and whether he thinks they are worth doing.

00:00 Intro
01:10 How does carbon offsetting work?
02:31 What types of offsetting projects are there?
04:09 The difficulties with carbon offsetting
06:31 What impact do these projects have on local communities?
07:17 Is there evidence that carbon offsetting does more harm than good?
08:25 Climate activist in Nigeria gives his view
09:31 Was this brought up at COP29, the climate conference?
10:59 Are carbon credits a con?
11:43 Should we pay the carbon offsetting option or not?
12:39 Climate activist in Nigeria tells us why he thinks we should buy carbon offsetting

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Presenter: Hannah Gelbart
Producer: Julia Ross-Roy
Video Journalist: Baldeep Chahal
Editor: Verity Wilde
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