What does carbon neutrality mean?

Whatever we do in life, be it working, travelling, consuming products and services or providing them, one thing is certain: in both our private and professional lives we produce CO2 emissions which affect the world's climate. As it is impossible to prevent all emissions, it was necessary to find a way of offsetting these unavoidable emissions.

Trees, for example, are an efficient global CO2 store. They need CO2 to grow and absorb it from the atmosphere, store it in the form of wood, then release oxygen instead. Thus the world's forests are also its lungs.

If we calculate our carbon footprint, that is the amount of emissions that result from the production of goods and services, from processes, business trips and energy consumption, then it is possible to plant the corresponding number of trees required to absorb the emitted CO2. As CO2 is not confined to national boundaries, where it originates from and where it is offset is unimportant.
This means it is possible to render these products, services and lifestyle choices "carbon neutral".

On the one hand, emissions are produced, but on the other, CO2 is reduced, thus the emissions are offset. Supporting reforestation projects is one way of reducing CO2, while other options include supporting projects that avoid CO2 emissions such as solar or hydroelectric power stations in place of coal-fired power stations.