Carbon Offsets: Science and Speculation
A panel at the recent Adventure Travel Trade Association summit promised to tackle hard issues around carbon offsetting – but ended up posing more questions than answers.
One of the panels at the recent Adventure Travel Trade Association summit in Whistler, British Columbia, was supposed to tackle the topic of “Carbon Offsets – Science, Debate & Solutions.” I was really looking forward to this panel, as it promised to address some basic, critical issues and concerns swirling around the effort to minimize travelers’ effects on the planet.
As it turned out, the panel never deeply debated and probed the hard issues I was hoping they would tackle head-on, but it did reveal the enormous gap that exists among members of the adventure travel community in regard to the notion of carbon offsets and their necessity and effectiveness.
Some attendees flatly contended that trying to offset our carbon footprint doesn’t make any sense and can cause more harm than good. And many questioned the reliability of carbon offset calculations – and the efficacy of carbon offset programs.
One thing emerged crystal clear: There is a great and urgent need for more scientific analysis of the actual effects of our carbon footprint, and for more rigorous study of the efficacy of different programs designed to offset that footprint.
For me, the big question arising from the summit was this: Who has the resources, the credibility and the initiative to lead this charge?
