Although the logical flaws in carbon offsetting have been known for decades, offset companies around the world have kept pushing them and have kept making money. Meanwhile, emissions keep going up. Recent years have seen the constant widespread criticism reach fever pitch with study after study showing that offsets do more harm than good.

But what else can be done?

Fern, Forest Peoples Programme and Rainforest Foundation UK hired David Young to answer that question by setting out alternatives to flawed voluntary carbon markets. The resulting report “Beyond Offsets: People and Planet-Centred Responses to the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis” explores non-market approaches to addressing the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, with a particular focus on the protection of forests and the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.