Some of the world’s biggest companies have made ambitious promises about cutting carbon emissions. But they might be placing too much faith in a carbon-negation technique that has turned out to be about as reliable as financing your retirement with Bed Bath & Beyond coupons.
The climate pledges of two dozen companies leading the corporate quest to curb carbon emissions are mostly vague, insufficient or both, according to a new report by watchdog groups Carbon Market Watch and NewClimate Institute. Together they have vowed to collectively slash 2.2 billion tons of greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050, or about 4% of the world’s total. That may not sound like much, but if we hope to cut total emissions in half by 2030 and to zero by 2050, as we must do in order to limit global warming to 1.5C, then every little bit will help.
Unfortunately, that promised 2.2 billion dwindles to about 890 million once you adjust for questionable climate mitigation strategies, according to the report. Perhaps the most notable is the reliance by many companies on “carbon offsets.” These are essentially credits for financing efforts to take carbon out of the atmosphere — most often, by planting trees. The report estimates that between 23% and 45% of promised emissions savings are due to such offsets.
