 Greenpeace says carbon offsetting could encourage people to fly more |
Next time you step on to an aircraft, you may or may not be thinking about the damage to the environment that is being caused by carbon emissions. If you are, then you might also be thinking about what you can do to offset the damage.
You could of course fly less frequently, or you might be thinking about carbon offsetting.
We had more on this, on Thursday's programme - we spoke to Friends of the Earth, watch agani from the link to the right And Breakfast's Graham Satchell reported from Heathrow Airport You can also read more about our 'low carb' family; we're following them for a year to see if they can reduce their carbon footprint Loosely speaking, carbon offsetting is any action that could mitigate the effects of your actions, for example paying to plant a tree.
Today, the government will announce details of the standards which need to be met by carbon offsetting schemes.
But Greenpeace is warning that the fashion of offsetting could effectively encourage more people to fly, or fly more often.
The government says it wants to set "the gold standard" for carbon offsetting - but no UK schemes currently meet this standard.
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Planting trees to offset co2 is an achievable and immediate contribution to offsetting. It's all very well telling people to pay for research into sustainable/renewable energy but that's a job for energy company's and the government. 
