The world comes together once every four years to celebrate its pinnacle sporting event, the Olympic games. Records demonstrating the greatest human athletic achievements are broken and rightly celebrated, but as humanity continues to smash much less coveted records of global temperatures, the role of mega events has to be highlighted, and better, more responsible organisational frameworks should top the podium.
Aware of the impact of the games on the climate and of record temperatures on the games, organisers of the Paris games have pledged to break records when it comes to reducing the impact of this mega event on the planet. ‘Going for Green’, a Carbon Market Watch and éclaircies report assessing the credibility of these plans reveals that if completely implemented, only 30% of the expected carbon footprint is covered by a robust climate strategy.
As this year’s edition of the CCRM reveals, the median absolute emissions reduction commitments by 2030 for the 51 companies assessed was as little as 30% (and 33% at the most optimistic), whereas the world needs a 43% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and 48% in carbon emissions below 2019 levels to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C.
At a time when global carbon emissions need to be almost halved by 2030, 51 major corporations’ climate commitments amount only to reducing their median carbon footprint by as little as 30%, reveals the 2024 Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor. Tighter regulations from governments are needed to raise the bar, both for companies which are taking insufficient action, and those who are not doing anything at all.
9 April 2024 | 15:00 – 16:00 CET | ONLINE REGISTER HERE Major corporations around the world lay claim to being climate champions with their “net zero” pledges and “carbon neutral” products and services. But how seriously are these multinational companies tackling the climate emergency? Which are taking genuine green action, and which are engaged in …
Read more “Decade of (in)action: Are corporate 2030 climate plans fit for purpose?”
The jetsetting ideal of the men’s tennis tour is helping to push the climate towards break(ing) point. So if offsetting isn’t the fix that the ATP is hoping for what is?
The EU’s lacklustre attempt to forge a certification system for carbon removals is so riddled with holes that the process needs to be rebooted to avoid doing more harm than good.
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.
Misleading and unsubstantiated green claims are widespread and must be addressed. Tackling this ubiquitous problem through the GCD (as a complement to the “Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition” (ECGT) proposal) falls short due to the failure to ban one of the most pervasive and contentious green claims – neutrality claims.
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.
