Companies can do better than offsetting

Relying on paying someone else to reduce emissions is risky and unsustainable. Therefore, private companies should stop “offsetting” and instead financially help poorer countries reach their climate targets and foster sustainable development. Voluntary carbon markets are booming as businesses across the world make climate-neutrality pledges. These plans often rely on the purchase of credits from …

Up in smoke – California fires once again highlight dangers of forest offsets 

Scroll down for French and Spanish Companies are increasingly adopting “climate-neutrality” targets, which often include relying on forests to compensate for pollution. After yet another such offset project was swallowed by flames in California, unresolved questions about forest and land offsets resurface. It’s a simple tagline for green marketing campaigns: “Enjoy our product, it’s climate …

Airlines’ golden (corona) life jacket makes a mockery of the green recovery

It’s been a rough few months for the aviation sector around the world, as most aircraft have not left the tarmac and major airlines are losing millions every day. But the industry has used the situation very effectively to push governments to weaken climate policies. The same governments are handing out multi-billion euro bailout packages, …

ICAO’s carbon market report offers valuable lessons for Article 6 talks

This opinion article was first published in Carbon Pulse on March 30, 2020 As part of the work to establish an international carbon market for aviation, CORSIA, a group of experts recently recommended restrictions for the types of carbon offsets that can and cannot be used by airlines. These restrictions were adopted by the UN aviation …

CORSIA: demand, supply and scaremongering

Warnings about a shortage of credits under the future aviation carbon market are unfounded. The upcoming decision on what airlines will be able to buy must, therefore, focus on ensuring that only credits from high-quality projects are eligible. It is crunch time again for the ICAO Council, the UN aviation agency’s decision-making body comprised of …

International carbon markets at the frontier to the wild west

The failure to agree on rules for international carbon markets at COP 25 has been a victory for some and a disaster for others. Looking at it pragmatically, it was very much a “disaster averted” outcome since the rules on the table would have legitimised the use of markets riddled with loopholes. Far from ideal, …

COP25 outcome puts pressure on ICAO to ensure robust rules for aviation carbon market

The failure to agree on robust rules to prevent double-counting at the UN climate change conference puts the UN aviation body in a difficult spot as it defines which programmes will be eligible under the future aviation offsetting scheme. It will be paramount to guarantee that airlines will only be allowed to use good quality …

Global carbon market negotiations are running out of (over)time

The talks on future global carbon markets are already in overtime after countries failed to agree on a global deal last December in Poland. Now even this extra time is quickly running out. Less than two months before the crunch time talks at the next UN climate summit, the number of unresolved issues appears to …

Aviation needs a credible long-term climate strategy 

The UN aviation body must urgently set robust, science-based long-term climate targets if the industry wants to win back the confidence of both investors and customers. Many Europeans are losing patience with airlines’ defensive attitude towards the aviation industry’s climate impact and are taking matters into their own hands – by choosing not to fly.  …