Going Carbon Neutral

Offsetting Emissions through Reforestation (6/7)

View of a national park in Costa Rica. The country aims to be the first to offset all of its CO2 emissions by cleaning up its fossil fuel-fired power plants, promoting hybrid vehicles, and planting trees.

Offsets from tree planting, however, are widely criticized. Although new trees do bind extra CO2, this reduction is undone as soon as forest fires destroy the trees again. That is why tree planting projects are not certified under the Gold Standard. (Photo: Reuters)