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Many of the world’s largest companies are setting net-zero climate goals, and they’re using carbon credits to get there. That means they can keep producing carbon emissions as long as they pay for emissions to be reduced elsewhere.

But do carbon credits actually incentivize companies to reduce their emissions?

On the show today, Pedro Martins Barata, associate vice president for carbon markets at the Environmental Defense Fund, explains what carbon credits are and the ethical concerns with companies relying on them to meet net-zero emissions goals. Plus, what future regulation of carbon markets could look like.

Then, we’ll unpack the good and bad news in the latest U.S. climate assessment. And, some industries are compensating for widespread staffing shortages by requiring employees to work excessive overtime.

Later, we’ll hear about how some farmers are combating climate change. And, this week’s answer to the Make Me Smart question was inspired by a listener.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• • “Fossil-fuel company net zero plans ‘largely meaningless,’ report says” from Reuters
• • “Carbon credit speculators could lose billions as offsets deemed ‘worthless’” from The Guardian
• • “The Climate Solution Actually Adding Millions of Tons of CO2 Into the Atmosphere” from ProPublica
• • “Analysis: How some of the world’s largest companies rely on carbon offsets to ‘reach net-zero’” from Carbon Brief
• • “Action needed to make carbon offsets from forest conservation work for climate change mitigation” from Science
• • “Carbon offsets: What are they and do they work?” from CNN Business
• • “36-hour shifts, 80-hour weeks: Workers are being burned out by overtime” from NBC News
• • “US climate assessment lays out growing threats, opportunities as temperatures rise” from Reuters
• • “Farm fields don’t just feed us. They store carbon. But a big question is how much” from AP News

We want to hear your answer to the Make Me Smart question. You can reach us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.