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The provincial government is privately circulating its ideas for carbon offsets, giving a clearer hint of its plan to recognize a broader range of climate-friendly efforts by the end of 2021.

Carbon offsets are a way of rewarding actions that sequester or reduce carbon emissions. Offset credits might be awarded to a green energy producer or a sustainable farmer, who could then sell them to, say, a mine emitting greenhouse gases. The credit would allow the mine to avoid paying a carbon price if it misses its emissions targets.

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The point is to help polluters find the most cost-effective way of achieving the same level of emissions reductions, even if those reductions are found outside their walls.

It also expands incentives to keep greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere by spreading rewards across the entire economy. Currently, the province’s output-based regulations only apply to heavy emitters, while the federal carbon levy only applies to fuels. Carbon offset credits could stimulate tree planting or better land use practices, for example, or any number of environmentally friendly practices that would otherwise fall outside carbon pricing schemes.