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Strategies to Avoid Lower-Quality Carbon Credits
  • Strategies to Avoid Lower-Quality Credits
    • Less reliable methods
      • Buying credits issued by independently recognized crediting programs
      • Avoiding cheaper credits
      • Avoiding older credit “vintages”
      • Making up for lower-quality by “discounting” or “over-buying”
    • More reliable methods
      • Sticking to lower-risk project types
        • Lower-Risk Project Types
        • Medium-Risk Project Types
        • Higher-Risk Project Types
      • Buying credits from trusted exchanges or retailers
      • Buying credits from projects certified against independently assessed, higher-quality methodologies
    • Most reliable methods
      • Buying credits from projects rated highly by independent rating services
      • Vetting carbon crediting projects directly
        • Additionality
        • Quantification
        • Permanence
        • Ownership of avoided emissions or enhanced removals
        • Co-benefits / harms
        • Due diligence sample case
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  • Strategies to Avoid Lower-Quality Carbon Credits
  • More reliable methods

More reliable methods

The following approaches for avoiding lower-quality carbon credits can be more effective. However, they are not a guarantee against lower-quality and should still be pursued carefully and with attention to specific details. These approaches include:

  • Sticking to lower-risk project types
  • Buying credits from trusted exchanges or retailers
  • Buying credits from projects certified against independently assessed, higher-quality methodologies
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The Offset Guide is an Initiative of the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute and the Stockholm Environment Institute.
Please contact us at info@ghginstitute.org