Carbon Offsets and Tree Planting: An IB ESS Evaluation Guide

19 Jul Carbon Offsets and Tree Planting: An IB ESS Evaluation Guide

Tree planting, forest conservation and carbon offset sales are related but different activities. Growing trees can remove carbon dioxide as carbon accumulates in biomass; conserving a threatened forest can avoid emissions relative to a stated baseline. Funding either activity is not automatically equivalent to buying a verified carbon credit. For an ESS evaluation, identify the exact claim and the evidence supporting it.

Questions to ask about a claim

• What project and location does the claim refer to?
• How is the amount of emissions reduced or carbon removed estimated?
• Would the activity have happened without the funding?
• How is the risk of losing stored carbon addressed?
• Could the activity move emissions or environmental damage elsewhere?
• How are double counting and repeat sales of the same reduction prevented?
• What monitoring records and independent checks are available?

These questions help examine additionality, permanence, leakage and accounting. A certification label should be checked alongside the method and evidence rather than treated as proof that all risks have disappeared.

Keep claims proportionate

In its Green Guides, the US Federal Trade Commission says carbon-offset claims should have reliable scientific support and appropriate accounting. It also addresses the timing of reductions and double selling. This is a source for evaluating US marketing claims, not a guarantee of a provider’s effectiveness.

Compare the claimed benefit with an explicit baseline and time period. A count of seedlings planted does not show how many survive or how much additional carbon is stored. Monitoring growth, survival and later losses is more informative than treating each planted tree as a fixed, immediate quantity of carbon removal.

Structure your ESS evaluation

Begin with the exact claim, then identify the evidence offered for it. Explain one strength, one limitation and what information would reduce uncertainty. End with a judgement limited to the evidence you have reviewed. Keep a project’s stated intention separate from a measured or independently verified outcome.

Original ESS discussion prompt

Compare the information needed to assess a tree-planting claim and a forest-conservation credit. Explain a possible tension between community needs and carbon accounting. This is an original exercise with no invented results.

Primary references: FTC Green Guides summary and FTC explanation of the guidance.

Practise with individual ESS support

In Marija’s online IB ESS SL and HL lessons, you can work on concepts, data interpretation and clear explanations. Request a free 20-minute trial lesson to discuss your priorities. For IA work, the investigation and submitted writing remain your own.

Official reference: IB ESS guide, first assessment 2026. Updated 19 October 2026.