It has taken more than ten years to achieve general acceptance that responsible business cannot be achieved by philanthropy alone. The correct focus is on how companies earn their profits. Most CEOs understand this.

Now along come the offsetters, dangling free social benefits with each tonne of carbon purchased. The comms teams love it, but is this really the way to tackle carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere – mixed in with community health and development?

We can’t allow offsets becoming philanthropy 2.0.

Our second major concern is with the way the purchasing company presents the offsets. By defining narrow boundaries for the impact being offset and indulging in creative communications, many are exaggerating the value of what has been purchased. The phrase ‘carbon neutral’ is almost universally misused.

Companies should start with full life-cycle assessment (LCA) of their products and a serious assessment of their sustainability issues. It is ridiculous for a public affairs or law firm to be carbon neutral while lobbying on behalf of the coal industry.

Also, it is all too easy for a car manufacturer to be carbon neutral based solely on its manufacturing energy footprint. The major carbon footprint of companies is frequently embodied in the raw materials or related to the product use phase. Interface’s manufacturing carbon footprint represents less than 10% of a carpet tile’s full LCA impact. We calculate all the carbon emissions of our products from the extraction of raw materials, through their production, transportation, use and end of life. And then we purchase offsets equal to that amount.

Carbon neutrality claims based on manufacturing alone should be viewed with scepticism. Companies need to face the elephant in the room, and reputable offset providers should not be complicit in supporting misleading claims.

Here is Interface’s checklist on how to ensure offset purchases are legitimate.

• Standards – voluntary offsets must meet either a standard eg. VCS (Voluntary Carbon Standard), CAR (Climate Action Registry) or GS (Gold Standard).

• Registry – offsets must be in a registry where they can be validated, verified, and retired.

• Vintage – offsets must not be used more than one year in arrears.

This is part of a series of entries that form a response to the Offsets Edition from Green Futures.