Companies are increasingly using book-and-claim systems to manage carbon emissions when they cannot physically source low-carbon energy or materials at their specific location. This approach decouples the environmental benefit from the physical product, allowing firms to claim a carbon reduction while the actual decarbonization happens elsewhere in the supply chain. This legal analysis explores the differences between offsetting, insetting, and mass balance approaches. It provides a framework for how businesses can navigate these accounting methods to meet sustainability goals without risking claims of greenwashing.
