Green Claims Directive: Open Consultation

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.

The 2040 homestretch: Enhancing EU climate action before and after 2030 – the role of the EU ETS and carbon removals

This policy document outlines recommendations for how the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) EU can help the EU decarbonise its economy by 2040. It was submitted in response to the European Commission’s public consultation on the EU climate target for 2040. 

In order to achieve this 2040 goal, the EU needs to raise its ambition now, not after 2030. Even though the ‘Fit for 55’ package of policy measures was only agreed at the end of 2022, it has one fundamental flaw which undermines its ability to deliver on the EU’s climate goals for this decade: it aims for a net decrease in emissions of at least 55% by 2030, at a time when the science clearly shows we need gross cuts of at least 65%. ‘Fit for 55’ needs to become ‘Fit for 65’ as soon as possible. The EU has run up a serious carbon deficit, this urgently requires the wise allocation of our remaining budget.

Launch of the 2023 Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor: Are major corporations keeping their climate pledges?

Date: 13 February 2023   Time: 15.00 – 16.00 CET   Companies are making bold net-zero climate pledges and carbon-neutrality claims. But are they delivering on their promises?   The rapid proliferation of these kinds of claims makes it nearly impossible for people to differentiate between corporations that are making a serious effort to reduce …

Poor tackling: Yellow card for 2022 FIFA World Cup’s carbon neutrality claim – Updated

Executive summary The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is being advertised as a “carbon neutral” event. This means that its net impact on the climate is zero or negligible. However, our investigation of the available evidence casts serious doubts on this claim, which likely underestimates the tournament’s true emissions levels and climate impact. This …

Carbon Market Watch response to the UN High-level expert group on net zero

Carbon Market Watch welcomes the opportunity to input to the HLEG’s call for public submissions on net-zero commitments of non-State entities. There is currently a proliferation of net-zero claims, as well as other similarly vague claims such as carbon neutral, carbon negative, climate positive, climate neutral, net carbon zero, and so on. Neither policymakers nor …

FIFA World Cup in Qatar scores own goal with misleading carbon neutrality claim, new report

The FIFA World Cup in Qatar advertises itself as the first carbon-neutral tournament of its kind. Our latest research casts serious doubt on this claim, suggesting that this goal will be achieved through creative accounting rather than actually reaching a carbon footprint of (net) zero.

Hollow corporate promises: How to stop false climate claims

Corporations are exaggerating their climate action, according to our recent report. But what are the next steps for those companies who truly want to reduce their impact on the climate? And how can governments stop false or misleading pledges sneaking into advertising? The Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor, a joint report from Carbon Market Watch and …

Top corporations use misleading climate pledges to greenwash image, new report

Major global companies are avoiding meaningful climate action and are instead using false, misleading or ambiguous green claims, a new report shows. The first Climate Corporate Responsibility Monitor assesses the pledges made by 25 of the world’s largest corporations, many of them household names, against a set of transparent quantitative and qualitative indicators. Due out …