COUNCIL bosses in Edinburgh have been warned not to “fatally undermine” a flagship pledge to become carbon net zero in just nine years’ time by using “dodgy carbon offsetting schemes” after officials admitted the city doesn’t have enough space to plant enough trees to eliminate its contribution to the climate crisis.

Edinburgh City Council has committed to become a carbon net zero city by 2030, 15 years ahead of Scotland’s legal target for the entire nation.

The council’s implementation plan includes enabling “the development of a citywide programme of heat and energy generation and distribution” and “accelerate the decarbonisation of public transport".

The strategy, now endorsed by councillors, warns that “even with a radical shift in the way we live to drastically reduce emissions” some “residual emissions” will remain, requiring the need for offsetting.

The blueprint adds that the city would have two options – “directly remove these emissions locally” such as mass tree planting within the city and carbon capture technology or to “purchase offsets from an accredited scheme which removes emissions from anywhere in the world”.

It adds that “there may also be scope to develop a city scheme for off-setting funds which partners could pay into”.

But council documents have revealed that to cut the city’s emissions by 65%, “517 million trees would need to be planted to offset the remaining emissions”, adding that “this would need land more than four times the total area of the city”.

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Beth Hall, strategy manager for policy at the council, has admitted that a carbon offsetting programme based solely on tree planting “would not be a workable solution for the city” but insisted more work is needed before a strategy is finalised.

The Scottish Government will not use overseas carbon credits as part of its net zero push. Now, Friends of the Earth Scotland has called on councils to rule out relying on carbon offsetting to hit climate targets.

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s head of campaigns, Mary Church, said: “The City of Edinburgh Council will fatally undermine its welcome and necessary ambition to cut climate emissions rapidly over the next decade if it relies on dodgy carbon offsetting schemes to do so.

“The Scottish Government was right to rule out their use and Scottish councils must follow suit.

“Paying companies to offset emissions through overseas tree planting schemes is a failure to take responsibility for our own pollution. These schemes are all too often marketed on flawed maths that misrepresent the different carbon lifecycles of natural sinks like forests and peatlands compared to fossil fuel emissions.”

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She added: “Carbon offsetting simply doesn't work, and what's more, many of these schemes cause grave harm to communities in poorer countries and lead to land grabbing, human rights violations and destruction of native forests and nature.

“At COP26 we witnessed big polluters and rich nations talking up speculative technology and carbon offsetting plans to con us into believing they can achieve their vague net zero targets without changing from business as usual. The reality is that the only way to avoid climate catastrophe is to rapidly phase out fossil fuels as part of a just transition to a renewable energy economy.”

Speaking at the SNP conference last week, leader of Edinburgh City Council, Adam McVey, boasted about his authority’s climate ambition, insisting the 2030 target is “a hard ask but it’s the right challenge for ourselves to meet our environmental obligations to future generations”.

He added: “Some will undoubtedly change slower, but Edinburgh and cities like us, being a centre of innovation, capable of leveraging international finance, and having the much-needed skills to support that transition, frankly have no excuse and we must go as fast as we can.”

Mr McVey has stressed that the city’s climate plan must have “a carbon reduction first approach”, warning that “it is not right to start from the question of how much offset we can get away with”.

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He said that his “preference” is for “local solutions” to any offsetting required, but acknowledged that it might not always be possible.

Mr McVey added: “There will be aspects of this that will need a regional dimension or even a national one – but I am very keen that we don’t see are companies in the city paying money to plant trees in fields in the Highlands and call that a net zero action.”

A council spokesperson said: “Any approach to offsetting will need to be right for the city and support the objectives of the 2030 climate strategy . The council will therefore work with city partners and potentially other local authorities and Scottish Government over the longer term to consider and agree the best approach.

“This will include jointly considering a policy position, strategy and budget for off -setting that clarifies when off -sets would be used and which quality principles must be met, including the standards of verification to be applied to different types of offsets.”