Journey to net zero

Where offsetting fits

Most organisations reach a point where they have made the cuts that are possible today and still have emissions left. Some come from processes that have no low-carbon alternative yet. Others sit in supply chains that will take years to change.

Carbon credits are for those remaining emissions. Buying a credit pays for a verified tonne of reduction or removal somewhere else, and it funds climate projects around the world. It is not a substitute for cutting your own emissions.

Treat offsetting as the last step on the way to net zero. When you do offset, choose the most responsible credits you can find.

CTX

Our position on offsetting

Carbon Trade eXchange

The mitigation hierarchy

Four steps, in this order

Each step depends on the one before it. Skip ahead and the claim at the end will not hold.

01

Measure

Build a full inventory of your greenhouse gas emissions, so you know where they come from and how large each source is.

02

Reduce

Cut emissions at every level of your operations and value chain, starting with the largest sources.

03

Offset

Buy and retire certified credits to cover the emissions you cannot yet avoid.

04

Report

Disclose your emissions, your reductions and your retired credits, then repeat the cycle each year.

Step 1 · Measure

You can only reduce what you have measured.

Most footprints follow the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which sorts emissions into three scopes. Scope 1 covers direct emissions from sources you own or control. Scope 2 covers the electricity, heat and steam you buy. Scope 3 covers everything else in your value chain, from purchased goods to the use of the products you sell.

The inventory should cover the main greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and the fluorinated gases, each converted to CO₂e.

To connect measurement with the market, CTX partnered with Minviro, a life-cycle assessment specialist, in September 2026. Minviro's XYCLE platform measures carbon footprints at product and process level and models where reductions are possible. CTX then provides the route to retire verified credits against what is left.

Read the Minviro announcement

A scientist in blue gloves pipetting samples into a row of test tubes

3

Scopes

CO₂e

One common unit

LCA

With Minviro

Step 2 · Reduce

Reduction comes before any credit

Your inventory shows where the large sources are. The usual levers are well known, even if they take time and investment.

Energy

Use less energy, switch to renewable electricity, and electrify heat and transport where you can.

Products and processes

Redesign products, change materials and improve processes, using life-cycle data to show where the gains are.

Supply chain

Work with suppliers on their own footprints. For many organisations, Scope 3 is the largest share of the footprint.

Step 3 · Offset

Building an offset plan

Once you know what remains, a plan turns it into a set number of credits, chosen against criteria you can defend.

Step one

Define the claim

Decide what you are offsetting: a reporting year, a product, an event or a whole organisation. Set the boundary and the reporting period before you buy anything.

Step two

Size the residual

Take your measured footprint, subtract the reductions you have made, and the remainder is your offset need. One credit covers one tonne of CO₂e, so the arithmetic is direct.

Step three

Set your criteria

Choose the credit type, standards, vintages and project locations you will accept, and the co-benefits that matter to you. Our integrity guide lists the questions to ask about any credit.

Step four

Buy and retire

Buy on the exchange from 100 tonnes per trade. Credits reach your registry account the same day, ready to retire against the period you are reporting on. For bespoke purchases or OTC trades, use CTX's buyer request form.

Step five

Report and review

Keep the retirement record for every credit, and review the plan each year as your own reductions go further.

Carbon credit integrity → Buyer request form

Tall stacks of paper files and folders in an office

Step 4 · Report

Your retirement record is your evidence.

A claim is only as strong as the record behind it. For each retirement, keep the registry, the project, the serial numbers, the vintage, the quantity and the date, along with who the credits were retired for.

Most reporting frameworks expect credits to be shown separately from your gross emissions, not subtracted from them. Report the footprint, the reductions and the retired credits as three distinct figures.

On CTX, every trade is delivered through a direct registry link, and you can export trade data and reports for your own records and audits.

How retirement works

Sector routes

Dedicated routes for aviation and shipping

Some sectors have emissions that cannot be engineered out yet, and their own rules for offsetting. CTX runs programmes built around them.

Aviation

Aviation Carbon Exchange (A.C.E.®)

CTX's offsetting platform for aviation. Operators can buy and cancel credits to cover flight emissions while longer-term changes, such as sustainable aviation fuel and more efficient aircraft, take effect.

CORSIA-eligible credits as well as voluntary offsets
For airlines and business aviation operators

About A.C.E. →

Shipping

Ship Carbon

CTX's dedicated offsetting service for the maritime sector, giving ship operators a route to offset the emissions their fleets cannot yet avoid.

Built for maritime operators
Online at shipcarbon.com

Visit shipcarbon.com →

Cut what you can. Offset what remains.