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ADDITIONALITY

Have you ever heard about #additionality, besides 1+1 =2?

In simple terms, the concept of additionality is the property of activity being additional. In fact, this basic term is also applicable when talking about the environmental crediting markets!

(See Impact #5 On Carbon Credits)

According to the Carbon Offset Guide, “GHG reductions are additional if they would not have occurred in the absence of a market for offset credits”.

In other words, if there is a presence of GHG reductions without selling carbon offset credits, then they are not considered additional.

Additionality is essential for the quality of carbon offset credits because if the GHG reductions are not additional, then purchasing offset credits instead of reducing your own emissions could negatively affect climate change.

A question to ask yourself: Would the activity reducing GHG emissions have been done anyway, even without selling carbon offset credits?

If the answer is yes, then the carbon offset is not considered to be additional.

Although additionality is essential, it is a topic that can cause misunderstanding. The reason why additionality can be a difficult concept to grasp is because of how common GHG-reducing activities occur.

Read more on Carbon additionality here: offsetguide

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