Unconventional climate solutions are gaining traction as global greenhouse gases continue to soar.
But scientists caution that strategies such as geoengineering and carbon offsets aren’t a substitute for reducing emissions. They’re just potential ways to dampen the Earth’s skyrocketing temperatures while policymakers strive to get carbon footprints under control.
Even so, some experts warn these kinds of alternative fixes may be distracting world leaders from the basic task of phasing out fossil fuels and cutting carbon emissions. And a new United Nations report has joined the chorus.
Carbon offsets allow leaders to shift the hard work of emissions reductions onto other — often poorer — parts of the world, the report suggests. Offsets allow countries or corporations to continue emitting greenhouse gases while paying other groups to invest in emissions-reducing projects, such as preserving carbon-rich forests that might otherwise be logged.
