François Allain: Voluntary local carbon offsetting and carbon neutrality in France

Supervisor: Olivier Coutard

Voluntary local carbon offsetting is one of the mechanisms designed to help achieve “carbon neutrality” in France. These projects, which involve either reducing or capturing CO₂ emissions, are described as “voluntary” because they go beyond the regulatory framework applicable to public and private sector organisations. From the Kyoto Protocol (1997) to the Paris Agreement (2015), the market for “voluntary” carbon offsetting has been primarily international, with climate projects implemented in the Global South and funded by countries in the Global North. Criticised for its climate ineffectiveness at the international level, can local voluntary carbon offsetting make a significant contribution to states’ carbon neutrality? This thesis aims to analyse in particular the case of France, which has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, and whose government has been involved since 2017 in developing tools to support these schemes at national and local level (Low-Carbon Label).

Drawing on field surveys, interviews and analyses of written documents, this research aims to quantify and assess the contribution of local carbon offsetting to national carbon neutrality. The application of the principle of additionality, the examination of the incentives and disincentives of ‘offsetting’ on the endogenous reduction of offsetting schemes, as well as the analysis of the environmental and socio-economic co-benefits of these projects, will enable us to clarify the contributions of voluntary local carbon offsetting.

This tool, which has its roots in climate finance, remains multidisciplinary due to the diverse nature of the projects implemented (forestry, agriculture, energy), the variety of stakeholders involved (businesses, intermediaries, the State, local authorities), and by the economic (carbon price, carbon value) and administrative (certification, support, verification) issues it raises. This thesis therefore adopts a socio-technical and multidisciplinary approach.