Carbon offsets: Self–imposed tax for guilt–ridden polluters

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2007

PARIS (AFP) — Hunting for a present for a pair of environmentally-sensitive newlyweds? Try this: a "just married" voucher worth 180 euros (234 dollars)... in carbon offsets.

Smaller than a toaster but more meaningful, this piece of paper will compensate for nine tonnes of perilous, climate-damaging carbon dioxide (CO2).

That is the amount of pollution that bride and groom are likely to generate by staging a wedding party with 150 guests and by taking a long-haul return flight for their honeymoon.

The voucher, launched by a French firm, Climat Mundi, is only one of a fast-growing array of products in the market for carbon offsets.

Put simply, carbon offsets are a form of self-imposed tax that more and more green-living people are contemplating, aware...