8. April 2022
Julia Kriegel
CO2 compensation has never been as ‚en vogue‘ as it is now. But what does ‚compensation‘ in the context of sustainability really mean? In short, it means to reduce one’s own CO2 footprint with a CO2 positive offset, mostly through monetary transactions towards social or ecological projects. This might sound like an effective concept at first and in some cases such as in air travel, offsetting seems to be a good fit to balance one’s individual CO2 footprint. Yet, the concept is often criticized – and for a good reason, as carbon offsetting is a convenient option to claim sustainability. It often leads away from the real problems that we are facing, as well as not directly changing one’s own behavior causing the emissions.
Therefore our VAST GREEN initiative does not see offsetting alone as the key to a more sustainable future. In order to achieve the UN 1.5 degree target, we need changes and strategies that go beyond offsetting CO2 emissions. That is why we take on a holistic approach including all three pillars of sustainability. Together with sustainability expert Alyssa Jade McDonald-Baertl, we formulated 6 VAST GREEN principles as our foundation – where offsetting carbon is just a byproduct of our actions. We see our mission to not simply outsource the solution for our sustainable future, but to tackle it at its roots, together as a VAST GREEN team.
