We Need Onsets Instead of Offsets
“We need onsets instead of offsets — activities by individuals, companies, and nations that remove two or three times more carbon from the atmosphere than they emit. Onsets place the carbon into forests, grasslands, wetlands, farmlands, and human well-being. Instead of paying off a promissory note for your carbon debt, an onset pays your debt forward. It makes a down payment on the future, supporting people, communities and Indigenous cultures. It is about regenerating soils, biodiversity, water retention, pollinator habitat, productivity, farmer income, social equity for smallholders and more.”
~ Paul Hawken
Paul wrote this passage for our 4p1000.org presentation at COP27 based upon the chapter “Offsets to Onsets” found in his newest book Regeneration, Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation.
Since the burgeoning demand for carbon credits has revealed gaps in potential buyers’ understanding of process, we added a few thoughts to his in our video, narrated by the Brazilian iGiveTrees’ team in our video.
“With the rapidly growing international interest in carbon credits, we always remind potential buyers that trees are not simply numbers on a spreadsheet. Most don’t yet take into account the added benefits of soil carbon sequestration, achieved by using organic methods in the plantings.
We’ve discovered that there is often more interest in fast growing monoculture plantations over biodiversity, soil health and community benefits.
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This must change if we are to achieve our climate goals.”
While their voices are seldom heard and their work is rarely acknowledged, these champions of rainforest restoration are among the most valuable people you will not ever find at a UN Climate Change Conference.
I’ve observed over the years of our participation in these events, that interest is upon scale and speed rather than simple methods that could be widely replicated. Agroforestry is especially valuable, as it also provides food and income to field partners.
How many trees can you plant? How little can we pay per tree? How fast will they grow? How soon can we harvest them and still collect our carbon credits?
These are more common questions than…
Will you be able to restore biodiversity? Do you also sequester carbon in the soil? Will trees be cared for until they become established in the field? How will local communities benefit from the project?”
Please support the continuation of our work to regenerate soil, water and forests in Brazil. Contributions are tax-deductible in the USA.
