World’s biggest firms seen exaggerating their climate actions
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Extinction Rebellion was joined by other groups concerned with climate change activism to organize a greenwash march at COP26. The purpose of the march was to demand that world leaders address climate change appropriately and end their destructive ways. The rally took place outside Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on November 3, 2021, in Glasgow, United Kingdom.
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According to 25 corporate studies, climate pledges by the most powerful companies in the world plan to lower absolute carbon emissions by only 40% per year, rather than 100% like their net-zero claims.
Analyse publishedThe non-profit NewClimate Institute & Carbon Market Watch discovered Monday that headline climate commitments by major multinational corporations cannot be taken seriously.
It assessed each firm’s transparency and awarded them an integrity rating. The study evaluated their transparency and climate goals, as well as the reliability and authenticity of offsets. It also assessed progress in reducing carbon emissions and transparency.
AmazonGoogle. VolkswagenAmong the top household names that were found to be low in integrity for their net zero targets are Unilever, NestleAnd BMW Groupwere found to exhibit very low integrity.
All major multinationals had low levels of integrity. MaesrkAccording to the report, they came in first with fair integrity. Apple, SonyAnd VodafoneWith moderate integrity
CNBC reached out to the businesses mentioned in this report for comments. Some of the companies mentioned in the report disagreed with its methods and indicated that they would take action to reduce the climate crisis.
Nestle’s global head of climate delivery, sustainable sourcing, Benjamin Ware stated that Nestle has already seen its greenhouse gas emissions decline and had reached a peak. We welcome criticism of our climate-related actions and promises. The New Climate Institute’s Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor report (CCRM), lacks understanding and includes significant inaccuracies.
CNBC spoke with an Amazon spokesperson who said that the company set ambitious goals because it knows climate change is serious and urgent action is required. Amazon plans to 100% utilize renewable energy to power its operations by 2025, as part of the goal to become net-zero in carbon by 2040.
A spokesperson from Volkswagen stated: “We are in agreement with the New Climate Institute’s aims that large corporations should be held responsible for any claims they make. It is important to do so transparently and clearly.” Their conclusions regarding our company are not something we disagree with.
This comes as corporations face immense pressure to lower their environmental impacts amid the growing climate crisis.
Global greenhouse gas emissions are roughly 5% due to 25 businesses that were evaluated, according to the report. The report confirms their large carbon footprint and highlights the role they play in addressing the climate crisis.
Thomas Day, NewClimate Institute climate policy analyst and the lead author, stated that the study was designed to find as many replicateable good practices as possible. However, we were surprised by the integrity of claims made by the companies.
He stated that companies are increasingly under pressure to address climate change. However, the headlines they make sounding ambitious can often be misleading to both regulators and consumers. Even those companies doing well may exaggerate the consequences of their actions.
Stop this greenwashing trend
Particular concern was found for near-term climate goals.
It was found that the top companies worldwide were only on track to decrease their global emissions by 23% by 2030. It is still far from the goal of almost halving global emissions by 2030, which the leading climate scientists in the world believe will be necessary to mitigate the most severe effects of the climate emergency.
The report stated that the headline climate promises were useful for long-term visions and supported by short-term goals.
But many of the promises were undermined due to contentious plans to cut emissions elsewhere, hiding critical information, or accounting tricks.
Nearly all companies that were evaluated relied on carbon offsets, according to the report.
Carbon offsetting, a controversial technique that allows polluters to pay for carbon-reduction or removal projects in other countries. It is usually done by planting trees and maintaining forests.
Carbon offsets are criticized by campaign groups. They allow for a business as usual approach to continuing to emit greenhouse gases. The proponents claim they can be a helpful tool in curbing the climate crisis.
The headline climate pledges of just three of the 25 firms — Maersk, Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom — were found to clearly commit to deep decarbonization of more than 90% of their full value chain emissions.
The study concluded that, overall, the strategies in place would — if implemented — reduce emissions by 40% on average. The report stated that this is far from the 100 percent claimed by most of the companies as carbon neutral or net zero.
It was also reported that businesses are not being transparent about their climate promises.
Misleading advertising by companies can have serious consequences for consumers as well as policymakers. Gilles Dufrasne from Carbon Market Watch stated that we are misled into believing these companies are taking enough action.
Without more regulation, it will keep going. This greenwashing must stop. We need regulators and governments to do more.
Maersk. Sony. Vodafone. Enel. GlaxoSmithKline. Google. Hitachi. Ikea. Vale. Volkswagen. Accenture. Walmart. Accenture. BMW Group. Carrefour. CVS Health. Deutsche Post DHL. E.On SE. JBS. Unilever.
Unilever spokeswoman said, “While our perspectives differ on the elements of this Report, we welcome an external analysis of our progress. We have started a productive dialog with NewClimate Institute for how we can improve our approach.”
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