A UN group set up to oppose the greenwashing of net zero pledges by industry and government has called for “red lines” to stop support for new fossil fuel research and the excessive use of carbon offsets.
The “high-level expert group”, set up in March by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to advise on rules to improve integrity and transparency in net zero commitments from industry, regions and cities, said climate plans must include deep cuts in greenhouse gases before 2030 and not postponing action until closer to 2050.
He stressed that serious commitments must prioritize immediate reductions in absolute emissions, with the use of carbon offsets – an often controversial practice that allows companies and governments to pay for cuts elsewhere rather than reducing their own pollution – to used sparingly in later years, if at all. Rules are needed to ensure that compensation is of high quality and comes from a reliable and verifiable source, the group said.
The expert group was created after widespread concern about greenwashing, including claims by major fossil fuel companies that they are aiming for net zero emissions by 2050, while supporting new coal, oil and gas developments and relying heavily on of compensations.
A Guardian investigation this year revealed that oil and gas companies, including several with net-zero pledges, are still planning huge new developments that would push the world far beyond the goals of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement. In Australia, they include Woodside, which took BHP’s global oil assets and plans to discover new fields off the northwest coast.
Already adopted net zero plans have drawn criticism for being vague, delaying action until it is too late and relying too heavily on reductions claimed by unrelated natural offset projects, such as planting trees and helping reforestation. Although offsets are widely supported by governments and industry as a cheaper way to reduce pollution than outright cuts, experts said they should only be used after a business or regional or local government has met short- and medium-term targets.
Releasing the report at the Cop27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, the panel’s chair, former Canadian climate minister Catherine McKenna, said net zero pledges should be “about reducing emissions, not cutting corners”.
“Right now, the planet cannot afford delays, excuses or more environmental cleanup,” she said.
Panel member Bill Hare, climatologist and CEO of Climate Analytics, said no one could ignore the need for “immediate and drastic emissions reductions.”
“If industry, financial institutions, cities and regions mean what they say in their net zero pledges, they will accept these recommendations,” he said. “If fossil fuel companies think they can expand production under a net zero target, they should think again.”
Experts said non-state actors should report publicly every year, backing up their claims with verifiable information to prevent climate misreporting. They called for voluntary net zero commitments for large corporate issuers to be replaced by regulated requirements.
Guterres said: “A growing number of governments and [companies] promise to be carbon-free – and that’s good news. The problem is that the criteria and indicators for these net zero commitments have different levels of stringency and loopholes wide enough for a diesel truck to drive through,” he said. “We must have zero tolerance for net zero greenwashing.”
The Secretary-General also had strong words for fossil fuel companies: “So-called ‘net zero pledges’ that exclude essential products [coal, oil, gas] they are poisoning our planet. Using false promises of net zero to cover up massive fossil fuel expansion is reprehensible. This toxic cover-up could push our world over the climate cliff.”
The report was supported by Laurence Tubiana, chief executive of the European Climate Foundation and considered one of the architects of the Paris Agreement as French environment minister. She said honoring that deal required drawing “a clear line on true net zero — what it really means and requires and what is just greenwashing.”
“We can’t afford creative accounting,” she said. “I call on all actors – including cities, regions, businesses, investors, unions, countries and regulators to take these recommendations seriously and implement them urgently.”
Add Comment