In the global race to combat climate change, carbon offsets have become one of the most talked-about tools — and one of the most controversial. My research takes a closer look at how this system works in India, one of the world’s biggest generators of carbon credits, and asks: Is this market actually doing what it claims to do?
Over the past year, I’ve analyzed over 1,200 carbon offset projects across India, aiming to assess their credibility, transparency, and climate impact. The goal? To understand how carbon credits are created, who’s buying them, and whether they truly deliver the emissions reductions they promise.
1. Double Counting Risks
One of the biggest threats to the integrity of carbon markets is the possibility that the same credit is counted more than once — by both the project host country and the buyer. This study investigates where and how this might be happening in India, and what that means for global climate accountability.
2. Carbon Credit Methodologies
How are these carbon credits actually calculated? We evaluate the methodologies used — some certified by Gold Standard and Verra — to see whether they follow rigorous, science-based protocols, or leave room for inflation and greenwashing.
3. Transparency for Buyers
We examine whether companies purchasing these credits can actually trace what they’re buying. If the data is murky — or the project developer is a shell company — that’s a serious red flag for buyers trying to offset emissions in good faith.
To make sense of India’s offset landscape, I built a custom database that compiles publicly available information from the Berkeley Carbon Trading Database (Version 10) — cross-referenced with CarbonPlan, OffsetMap, and project registries like Gold Standard and Verra.
Each project entry includes:
Project ID and name
Type of project (e.g., renewable energy, agriculture)
Developer and country of buyer
Credit issuance and retirement records
Estimated annual impact and methodology used
This database became the backbone of my analysis, helping surface patterns in buyer behavior, project types, and reporting practices.
The data was far from clean. Projects were listed under different names across registries, metadata was missing or mislabeled, and credits were sometimes listed without clear retirement records. I used Python, Excel, and manual verification to clean and categorize every entry — a process that took nearly 8 months.
I also linked each buyer entity to their country of origin and industry sector, allowing for deeper analysis of who’s actually participating in India’s offset market — and who’s staying hidden.
India’s carbon offset projects serve as a cornerstone of many companies’ climate strategies — especially those in the Global North. But if the system lacks transparency or rigor, it risks doing more harm than good by offering the illusion of climate action without the substance. My research aims to inform smarter policy and raise the bar for what accountability should look like in global carbon markets.
I’m grateful to work under the guidance of:
Dr. Sonali McDermid, Chair of Environmental Studies, NYU
Dr. Mook Bangalore, Postdoctoral Researcher & Assistant Professor, Penn State University
Margaux Alfare, Associate Research Scientist, NYU Department of Environmental Studies
Together, we’re working to shed light on a murky corner of climate finance — and push for a future where carbon markets serve the people and the planet, not just the polluters.