Carbon credits

How they work

A project reduces or removes emissions: reforestation, methane capture at a landfill. A certification program reviews the project and issues one credit per tonne. The best-known voluntary programs are Verra's Verified Carbon Standard and Gold Standard.

Whoever buys a credit to offset emissions has to retire it. Retiring means taking it out of circulation in a registry, so that nobody else can use it.

Two uses in Chile

The first is tax-related. Taxpayers with sources subject to the green tax can offset part or all of their taxed emissions with certificates from projects accepted by the Ministry of the Environment's Emissions Offset System. The regulation is Supreme Decree No. 4, published on September 29, 2023.

The second is voluntary. The Neutralization seal of HuellaChile requires retiring credits from Chilean projects, in a public registry, for at least Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

They are not all worth the same

A credit is only as good as the project behind it. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market published ten principles for identifying high-quality credits. Ask about the standard, the year and the registry before buying.

They come last

Official programs put offsetting after measuring and reducing. In HuellaChile, the Neutralization seal requires holding the Reduction seal first.

And be careful how you communicate it. Since September 2026 the European Union bans claiming that a product is emissions-neutral based on offsetting. See greenwashing.

Source: Emissions Offset System, Ministry of the Environment, Supreme Decree No. 4 and Verified Carbon Standard, Verra.