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Checklist and template for effective beyond value chain mitigation action (full version)

The full version of this template provides guidance on best-practice reporting for use by companies to communicate clearly how they contribute to climate action beyond their own value chains, the so-called “beyond value chain mitigation” (BVCM). The template has the dual objective of complementing standard setters and voluntary frameworks as they integrate BVCM disclosure into …

Cause and effect

Correlation or causation: Is there a link between carbon offsetting and climate ambition?

A spate of recent studies are being used to claim a causal link for companies that offset their emissions between their use of carbon credits and their rate of internal decarbonisation. However, the available evidence tells a different story about whether or not companies exploit carbon markets as a licence to pollute.

Carbon Market Watch welcomes EU ban on “carbon neutrality” greenwashing

Companies selling in the European Union will no longer be able to claim that their products are carbon or climate neutral, the EU has provisionally agreed. This victory against greenwashing corresponds to longstanding demands from climate campaigners to eliminate the use of offsets and send a signal to the voluntary carbon market.

European Parliament abandons neutrality in anti-greenwashing drive – Updated

he European Parliament has demonstrated a strong commitment to both consumer protection and the climate when it voted in favour of a ban on companies making “carbon neutral” claims. The Council of the European Union and the European Commission must support such a prohibition during the ongoing legislative process to review EU consumer protection rules.  

Assessing the carbon neutrality claims of products in Belgian supermarkets

This Carbon Market Watch report commissioned by the Belgian consumer organisation Test Aankoop/Test Achats analyses the credibility of climate claims found on 15 products in Belgian supermarkets. The study found that all the assessed products misled consumers in some way by implying some form of “neutral” climate impact that relied on the inappropriate use of …

Not zero: New report exposes greenwashing in climate plans of top global corporations

Despite claiming to be champions of climate action, two dozen of the world’s largest and richest corporations are hiding their climate inaction behind the fig leaf of green-sounding ‘net zero’ plans, concludes the 2023 edition of the Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor. For that reason, governments must stop their dithering and regulate robustly what green claims companies are permitted to make.

EU works to beef up regulations on green claims while NGOs take to the courts to combat greenwashing

The proliferation of dubious green claims by companies has sparked renewed concern about the lack of adequate regulation to prevent greenwashing and the low compliance with existing rules. Regulators are starting to revise outdated provisions, while NGOs are suing companies over misleading advertisements. The European Commission published yesterday (30 March 2022) a new proposal to …