What to Do About Unavoidable Emissions: Let’s Be Clear: Net Zero Includes Unavoidable Emissions

Date Posted:Thu, 18th Dec 2025

When we talk about net zero, there’s a common misconception that it means eliminating all emissions. But that’s not how the science defines it, or how businesses can realistically achieve it.

The official definition of net zero, as recognised by the UN, SBTi, and the GHG Protocol, is this:

🔍 Net zero means reducing emissions as far as possible and then removing or offsetting any unavoidable residual emissions.

So yes, offsetting has a place in your journey. But only after you’ve done the hard work of reducing what you can.

What Are Unavoidable Emissions?

Even the most efficient, forward-thinking businesses will always have some emissions they can’t eliminate entirely, at least not with current technology.

Examples include:

Freight or air transport where no alternative exists
Manufacturing processes that rely on heat or chemical reactions
The embodied carbon in essential materials (e.g. concrete, steel, IT equipment)
Emergency backup power (e.g. diesel generators)

These are your residual emissions and you are allowed to offset them in a legitimate net zero pathway.

Offsetting: What It Is and What It’s Not

Offsetting is a way to balance out your residual emissions by investing in projects that remove or prevent the equivalent amount of CO₂ elsewhere.

But offsetting is not:

A substitute for reducing your own emissions
A loophole to keep polluting
An excuse for inaction

Done responsibly, offsetting can:

✅ Support vital environmental restoration (e.g. reforestation, peatland protection)

✅ Fund clean technology in developing nations

✅ Create co-benefits like biodiversity, water protection, and local employment

How the Carbon Offsetting Process Works

Measure your residual emissions (typically after reductions to Scope 1, 2, and 3)
Choose verified offsetting projects from trusted registries (e.g. Gold Standard, Verra, Puro.Earth)
Purchase carbon credits: one credit equals one tonne of CO₂ removed or avoided
Retire the credits publicly to avoid double-counting
Document offsets transparently in your carbon reporting and net zero strategy

Offsetting Is Part of a Net Zero Framework, Not a Shortcut

Let’s be clear: offsetting is not a way to delay reductions.

The official sequencing of net zero is:

Measure your emissions
Reduce everything you feasibly can
Offset what’s left: the unavoidable emissions

Offsetting without reductions? That’s greenwash.

Offsetting as part of a verified, time-bound reduction plan? That’s leadership.

How to Approach Offsetting Transparently and Responsibly

When it’s time to offset, here’s how to do it right:

✅ Choose high-quality offsets from trusted registries
✅ Look for projects with measurable, additional, and permanent impact
✅ Document your offsetting in your annual report, not buried in marketing materials
✅ Make your offsetting consistent, not a one-off PR exercise
✅ Be upfront about why you're offsetting, and how it fits your wider reduction strategy