The core quality requirement of any carbon offsetting solution is additionality - the requirement that the carbon reduction coming from the offset is unquestionably and uniquely caused by the financial funding of that very offset - and that it could not exist otherwise without the offset funding. A simpler way to put this is that the offset must be verified as taking place on a project where the funding is truly needed.

Clean Energy Offsets:
When we look at clean energy offsets e.g. wind, solar, hydro, cooksoves, the additionality requirement is why it's very rare to see these type of offsets existing in the UK, Europe or the west: because there is enough financial incentive (grants, investment etc) for clean energy providers to build successful clean energy projects. Of course, this is why there's already a bunch of clean energy solutions throughout the west, and therefore, how can a project developer verify that they truly need the carbon offset funding to cause the carbon reduction?

To geek out on the offsetting space even more - this example above is exactly why the carbon markets were created by the UN: to distribute funding from the rich west in order to scale up carbon reduction solutions across the globe.

Nature-based Reforestation Offsets:
If we look of the additionality of nature-based offsetting solutions related to afforestation/reforestation, it is generally easier to verify additionality, so long as the project itself is of high quality, with both the trees and the local ecosystem being nutrured and protected properly, for the long-term. However, the key reason why most reforestation offsetting projects are based abroad from the UK & Europe is that:
1. There is generally a great deal more degraded land in the developing world
2. The land itself is generally less expensive to develop projects on - e.g. 300ha of land in the UK vs 300ha of land on the Niger Delta
3. The tree species themselves are by-and-large much more effective at sinking carbon - especially when you think about the size of the tree. Unfortunately, many of our tree species in the UK do not sequester a great deal of carbon unless they're more than 8ft tall - whereas a 4ft mangrove on the Niger Delta can bury carbon up to 35x faster than tropical rainforests

Carbon Capture Offsets:
Long-term carbon capture offsets can be pretty much additional everywhere - these projects provide long-term storage of carbon via chemical processes - and beleive us, there is an incredibly limited financial incentive for these projects to exist outside of carbon offsetting at this current point in time!

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