In the discussion about the report from the WMF relating to sustainability, mention was made of the potential use of carbon offset. As part of planning a conference for next year, we could ask or require participants to factor in payments for carbon offset. With no experience in examining carbon offset projects, we are cautious about making any policy to do this, in particular it would be a bad blunder if we start paying in to a carbon offset project that turns out to be a bad or controversial choice later on.
Has the WMF or Affiliates made any prior choices for carbon offset projects, or could the community work out which of the many projects might be the most ethically responsible and well governed to choose from?
An a bonus to tack on, we have used phrases like ''encouraging greener travel options'', which one might interpret as doing things like preferring train travel rather than using flights within the same country. However if, say, a participant can fly within the country at half the cost and get to an event in a couple of hours rather than spending several times longer travelling, is it a reasonable/ethical approach to just fly for convenience and buy some carbon offset "points" (and so flying may well still be significantly cheaper than going by train).
Thanks, Fae