Offsetting greenhouse gas emissions has been suggested as an important part of a comprehensive climate policy approach. Programmes for offsetting greenhouse gases can reduce the cost of achieving the emission targets, since emission reductions can be enabled where the costs are low. In a new handbook of carbon offset programmes, a systematic review of existing offsetting programmes is provided. The handbook gives information on how offset mechanisms function, as well as information about the successes and pitfalls that the different programmes have encountered. A number of different types of programmes are covered, including mandatory and voluntary systems, government regulated and private markets, carbon offset funds, and accounting and reporting protocols. The handbook can be used by regulators, policy makers, business leaders as well as NGOs.

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