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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday formally acknowledged for the first time that unfair practices are widely used to claim progress on climate action, warning companies and other non-state entities pursuing net-zero targets not to indulge in a “green wash”, And upgrade their process within a year to show the real results of their actions.
“We must have zero tolerance for net-zero greenwashing,” Guterres said when releasing the report of a panel he set up last year that proposed measures to prevent greenwashing by private companies and other non-state actors. Greenwashing is a series of activities in which companies and even countries indulge in misleading or dubious claims about their climate actions.
“There is a growing number of governments and non-state actors committing to being carbon-free – that’s good news. The problem is that the standards and benchmarks for these net-zero commitments have varying levels of rigor and loopholes that would make a diesel truck a problem. Pass,” Guterres said.
In its report, the panel recommended that non-state entities with net-zero emissions targets must not allow any new investments in fossil fuels, must propose verifiable short-term emissions reduction targets on the path to net-zero emissions, and by 2025, All their activities that directly or indirectly lead to deforestation must end.
Net zero is when an organization’s or a country’s total emissions are balanced by the absorption or removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Countries have also set net zero targets. Most developed countries have pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. China has a net-zero emissions target for 2060, while India has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070.
Businesses, city and regional governments, and even individual sporting events have jumped on the net-zero bandwagon and have been making all kinds of hard-to-verify and often dubious claims. The report of the expert group is aimed at such companies and organizations.
“The risks are clear. If the green wash premised on low-quality net-zero commitments is not addressed, it will undermine the efforts of true leaders, creating confusion, cynicism and a failure to take urgent climate action. This is why regulation is ultimately needed to create a level the playing field and ensure that ambition is always matched with action,” the group said in its report.
The group also warned companies and other entities against buying “cheap” carbon credits to meet its net-zero goal. These cheap credits often lack integrity and do not represent actual reductions in emissions, the report said.
Arunabha Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer Delhi As a member of the Energy Environment and Water Council and Panel, it is important to introduce transparency and integrity into climate action.
“If we have to get serious about net zero, businesses must stop greenwashing. The panel recommends that businesses set clear targets and paths while achieving absolute emissions reductions through their own efforts. At the same time, actions to achieve net zero emissions must lead to a significant impact on development Greater climate investment in China’s national sustainable infrastructure and positive social and economic outcomes for disadvantaged communities. Without such investment, the net-zero transition will be neither just nor fair,” Ghosh said.
The group also called for widely accepted regulations and the adoption of new standards across all sectors.
“In order to effectively address greenwashing and ensure a level playing field, non-state actors need to move from voluntary initiatives to regulated net-zero emissions requirements. Verification and enforcement in the voluntary arena is challenging…which is why we are calling for greater Emitters are starting to regulate, including guaranteeing their net-zero commitments and mandatory annual progress reporting,” the report said.
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