Countries and companies around the world are talking about their climate credentials and pledging to achieve “zero-net” carbon emissions or become “carbon neutral” in the coming decades. But when we delve into the details, these promises seldom fulfill their promises.
“I think there’s a growing momentum behind genuine commitments to get to zero. I think along with that, there’s always going to be some element of brainwashing,” says Christopher Greig, a senior researcher at the Andlinger Center for Energy and environment at Princeton University. “There are people who are basically forced to make these commitments because of shareholder pressure.”
The United States aims to reach zero net emissions by 2050. China aims for the same 2060. One-fifth of the world’s 2,000 largest state-owned enterprises have pledged to achieve net targets, according to a new UK non-profit report. profit, Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU). Visa, AstraZeneca and Alaska Airlines plan to eliminate carbon emissions by at least 2040, while other corporations like Apple have pledged to produce 100% carbon-neutral supply chains and products by 2030.
Unfortunately, there are no standard guidelines for achieving zero or carbon net emissions. This means that companies and countries can create their own definitions.
Companies that are committed to being carbon neutral do not necessarily promise to eliminate CO2 from their activities. Instead, they can support environmental projects that offset their own emissions. Examples are the carbon offsets of groups that install renewable energy, plant and protect trees, or provide other means to clean up the atmosphere.
These plans are not necessarily realistic or useful. For example, there is only so much space around the earth to plant trees. A recent Oxfam report estimated that the total area needed for planned carbon removal could be five times the size of India, or the equivalent of all the planet’s farmland.
Research on the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative shows less than 5% of the offsets that actually remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
“Without a scientific basis and a true path to zero zero … some of the effects of these trades or these commitments could simply be unachievable,” said Rachel Kyte, climate adviser to the UN secretary-general and the dean of the United Nations. Fletcher School at Tufts University.
What should companies do to avoid empty green promises? “A corporation needs to be able to measure and verify its emissions, both within its own operations, as well as upstream and downstream of its operations,” Greig explains. “And it needs to be able to measure, verify and show the outside world how it goes against those goals.”
The answer is not simple and will require resources and complicated accounting. But many argue that these steps are necessary to lessen the risk that catastrophic climate change will be inevitable.