Understanding the Risks

We'd rather you buy fewer credits and understand what you're buying than buy more and not know the trade-offs. Here's what we won't gloss over.

This isn't a substitute for reducing your own emissions

Offsetting is what's left after you've cut what you can. Buying credits instead of reducing your own footprint is exactly the pattern regulators are cracking down on — the EU's Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, which becomes binding in the Netherlands on 27 September 2026, specifically targets vague “carbon neutral” claims built on offsetting alone.

Permanence isn't guaranteed

Nature-based removals (forests, mangroves, soil carbon) can be reversed — by fire, disease, land-use change, or simple project failure. Engineered removals are typically more permanent but far more expensive. Every project's score on this platform includes a permanence assessment; a high price is not proof of permanence and a low price is not proof of fragility, so check the score itself.

This is not a regulated financial product

Voluntary carbon credits are not currently regulated as a financial instrument in the EU, and we are not a financial advisor. Nothing here is investment advice. The Dutch AFM has publicly supported extending oversight to this market — that isn't law yet, but it signals where things are headed.

Verification quality varies a lot between projects

Not every registry, methodology, or auditor is equally rigorous — this is precisely what the 2023 Verra/Guardian findings exposed. We layer independent ratings and our own review on top of registry approval rather than treating registry acceptance as the finish line.

Prices can and do move

Carbon credit prices are not fixed by any central authority and can fall as well as rise, including after you've bought — though once retired, your credit is retired regardless of subsequent price moves.

Questions this page didn't answer? Check the FAQ or contact us directly.