The carbon offset market has become a veritable minefield for organizations seeking to achieve net zero goals. With many offset schemes condemned as 'worthless', it is imperative that businesses find options that have real-world impact and use them strategically to avoid claims of greenwashing. The rapid growth of the carbon offset market, which is set to quadruple in size by 2020-21, has raised concerns that Australian organizations are using unreliable carbon credits to buy their way to net zero targets rather than making meaningful changes to decarbonise. Market analysis shows that carbon credits may not always deliver what is promised. As such, organizations need to educate themselves on how to ensure the most effective offsets for their decarbonisation journeys. The voluntary carbon market has soared to $2 billion in 2021, but not without criticism. A 2022 analysis revealed that more than 90 percent of rainforest carbon offsets from the world's largest certification body were "worthless" and called "phantom credits" that did not represent real carbon reductions.  This challenge to the integrity of carbon offsets, combined with increasing pressure on companies to prove they are decarbonizing, has created what you might call an imperfect storm. (Sandra Rossi)