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Scientists reopen contentious question on valid carbon offsets

A new study suggests temporary carbon storage may have a legitimate role in climate mitigation, though not for CO₂.

The World Bank says direct carbon pricing policies now cover 29% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The World Bank says direct carbon pricing policies now cover 29% of global greenhouse gas emissions. (Gustav Gullstrand/Unsplash)

For years, climate negotiators and carbon market regulators have treated temporary carbon storage with suspicion.

Trees burn. Soils degrade. Wood products decay. Carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere for a few decades does not stay out of the atmosphere permanently. That has made temporary carbon removal one of the most disputed questions in climate accounting and net-zero policy.

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