There has been a great deal of debate in the last few months on whether short positions can act as offsets to the carbon emissions of long positions in a portfolio, through the netting of carbon exposures. As investors increasingly make net zero carbon emissions commitments and increasingly aim for real world impact in their portfolios (for E and S issues), how short positions are accounted for is a critical issue. This paper addresses the subject of whether a short position in a carbon emitting company can be perceived as a carbon offset for a long position in another carbon emitting company within the same portfolio.