[Neil]

I agree with both Martin and Chris on the offsetting question. I may be wrong but ultimately I believe that you are both talking about the same thing. Whilst Martin talks of the supplemental nature of offsetting, Chris notes the use of offsetting for those times when emissions are unavoidable. Fundamentally I think the key to an effective personal contribution to combat global warming must have emissions reduction as the primary concern. Instead of spending a proportion of your income on a carbon offsetting scheme, which may or may not deliver the necessary savings, why not invest the money where you can see a guaranteed benefit; from low energy bulbs and loft insulation to micro-generation. Investing in your own emission reductions is not only economic but also acts to promote personal action from friends, relatives and neighbours. The unavoidable emissions can then be offset if you feel that you can find a trustworthy scheme.

In terms of Chris's other point about a personal emissions scheme I have to admit I am extremly enthusiastic about this idea. Whilst I would like to give a great deal more thought to how it could be done, I have given a little thought to a potential taxation approach which could pave the way to an eventual cap and trade scheme;

In order to get a decent level of sign on a personal carbon scheme will need a powerful carrot and stick(financial push and regulatory pull). For me the best way to achieve this is to place a new/additional carbon tax on the chosen products (including gas, electricity and petrol) from the outset. Everybody would then recieve a card (similar to a phonecard for instance) which has a set level of carbon allowance installed. To get the carbon tax removed from the product the card would be scanned by the retailer or removed from your carbon account remotely by your supplier. Whilst there are a number of technical issues which would need to be addressed it is clear that the technology exists. However, by taxing all covered products at the point of sale (regulatory pull) all citizens would be automatically involved, like it or not. It would also reward those who proactively used their carbon allowance card and reduced their consumption of carbon intensive products.