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Sat 03 Mar 2007HorizonsCancel out your carbon:Do you see carbon-offsetting as the ultimate guilt-free solution to global warming? Or put simply, next time you take a flight, will you plant a tree or find someone who will do so on your behalf? According to an article in this month's New Scientist, the market in so-called environmental absolution is remarkably unregulated.Writer Fred Pearse has no issues with official offsetters, ie those sanctioned under the Kyoto protocol, which allow governments and companies to earn and trade carbon credits on international emissions trading markets. He does, however, have grave concerns about the 30 or so charitable and profit-making bodies that charge a fee to organise offsets on your behalf. For instance, how companies calculate each individual offset varies hugely (scientific debate about how to do this is also ongoing). Then, once calculated, the fees to offset also vary and there's the risk that some unscrupulous companies may sell offsets more than once.