The fact is that despite three decades of pledges — and some notable areas of progress — global emissions continue to rise. Many companies set ambitious goals only to postpone or quietly abandon them once the real costs become clear. And more still don’t even do that.
There is nothing to suggest that carbon credits are to blame for this. In fact, evidence suggests that high‑quality credits don’t displace inevitable abatement — they finance additional action that wouldn’t otherwise occur, particularly in regions that receive little climate investment. Research from Forest Trends shows that companies using carbon credits are also decarbonizing internally at nearly twice the rate of those that don’t, underscoring that credits can complement, rather than replace, internal action.