More than 80 leading civil society organisations, including ECOS, have issued a joint statement rejecting the use of carbon offsets to meet corporate climate targets. We call on accounting bodies like the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol to continue excluding offsets and stick to scientifically-sound methodologies for tracking corporate climate efforts.
Companies that make no changes to their usual practices but claim their products or operations are climate neutral by buying carbon offsetting credits are greenwashing. The European Union recently took the same stance with new rules on green claims and empowering consumers. Our report reveals that a leading international standard rubberstamps practices that contradict these laws and are not aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Press release | Companies that make no changes to their usual practices but claim their products or operations are climate neutral by buying carbon offsetting credits are greenwashing – plain and simple. The European Union recently took the same stance with new rules on green claims and empowering consumers. A report from environmental NGO ECOS [1] reveals that a new international standard rubberstamps practices that are in contradiction to these laws and are not aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement [2].
The new Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive will put the brakes on unchecked environmental claims in the EU and could usher in a new era for consumers, who may no longer be exposed to a barrage of greenwashing. But major gaps linked to enforcement and verification remain.
The gold standard for climate targets, SBTi, falls short. It does not follow the latest science or UN recommendations on net zero. Together with 20+ NGOs, ECOS has urged SBTi to align with UN standards. Read the joint letter.
Today, the European Parliament’s ENVI Committee voted to speed up decarbonisation by introducing requirements that would cover the environmental impact of cement in the proposed Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)[1].
Reducing carbon emissions has been defined as a central goal in the fight to tackle the effects of climate change. But “carbon neutral” claims that rely on carbon offsetting – a different practice – are misleading and can hinder actual progress, writes Elisa Martellucci in EURACTIV.
Meant to prevent greenwashing by giving consumers reliable environmental information on products, the proposal falls short of its original ambition and fails to offer a robust, harmonised methodology for calculating environmental impacts.
Carbon neutrality has captured the public’s imagination and has become an integral part of marketing. It is now an important way to advertise industry commitment to stop climate change, often replacing other ways of communicating on real contributions.
Claims of ‘climate neutrality’ have become omnipresent in products and services. But are they credible, and should we believe them? This ECOS report will help policymakers and standardisers make the right choice and ensure that climate neutrality claims become a thing of the past.
ECOS is co-funded by the European Commission and EFTA
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EISMEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
