idea

Carbon offset is done by having corporations buy out projects that would otherwise result in releasing atmospheric carbon, in exchange for carbon they actually release. e.g compensate air travel with purchasing carbon credits from forest protection.

It is largely a scam, because the market incentivizes scams. Most projects end up not yielding close to the displayed target, if any.

It also leads to companies burning more carbon when offsetting

references

https://nebula.tv/videos/wendover-the-carbon-offset-problem/