Commentary: California’s carbon-offset forests aren’t trapping much carbon. Here’s how to do better
Many companies promising “net-zero” emissions to protect the climate are backing that claim by investing in vast swaths of forests to recapture carbon. It turns out this strategy isn’t working very well.
On paper, carbon offsets appear to balance out a company’s carbon emissions: The company pays to protect trees, which absorb carbon dioxide from the air, reducing the company’s net impact on the climate.
However, our new satellite analysis reveals what researchers have suspected for years: Forest offsets might not be doing much for the climate.
When we looked at satellite
