Carbon Market Watch submission on UNFCCC Recognition and Accountability Framework

While Carbon Market Watch welcomes the introduction of UNFCCC guidelines for the net-zero pledges of businesses and other non-state major emitters, these guidelines must be designed to lead to actual accountability of these actors. Clear and ambitious criteria must be set for these net-zero pledges. Moreover, the guidelines cannot leave any room for offsetting as …

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.

Building with plants growing on the facade

New carbon market code of practice discourages companies from greenwashing

Guidance on the use of carbon credits by private companies published today by the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative (VCMI) is a step in the right direction to rein in greenwashing. The proposed set of rules forms a welcome basis to move the conversation forward but more attention should be given to how companies can contribute to climate action outside of carbon markets.

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 …

Integrity Council’s new carbon market rules offer improvements but don’t close all loopholes

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market has just released a set of new rules which seek to boost the quality of carbon credits for offsetting but ignore other issues with the market. While this is an improvement on current practices, the problematic concept of offsetting itself must be abandoned. As part of its …

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.