{"id":222326,"date":"2022-10-05T13:12:30","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T11:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=222326"},"modified":"2022-10-05T13:12:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-05T11:12:34","slug":"carbon-offsets-want-to-get-sued-greenwashing-as-illegality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=222326","title":{"rendered":"Carbon Offsets: Want to Get Sued? (Greenwashing as illegality)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Robert Bradley Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cClientEarth lawyers have developed a legal briefing<\/a> that unpacks the problems with carbon offsets and why businesses relying on them should prepare for legal action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026 \u2018quality\u2019 in the unregulated carbon credit market can be hard to come by, and harder still to verify\u2026. Another issue is there simply isn\u2019t enough room on the planet to plant the number of trees needed \u2026 <\/strong>without harming food supply.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A recent article in ClientEarth, Why carbon offsets don\u2019t work, and the legal risks of marketing them<\/a>, should send chills down the spine of corporations (and others) that are trying to be \u201cgreen\u201d despite their natural dependence on fossil fuels. The charge? \u2026 \u201cso-called carbon \u2018offsets\u2019 hide a massive climate problem and pose a significant legal risk to the companies marketing them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The September 30th article begins:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve bought a flight lately, or filled your car with petrol, you\u2019ve likely been offered a product to \u2018offset\u2019 the climate impact of your purchase. While promoted as a solution to the climate crisis, these so-called carbon \u2018offsets\u2019 hide a massive climate problem and pose a significant legal risk to the companies marketing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ClientEarth lawyers have developed a legal briefing<\/a> that unpacks the problems with carbon offsets and why businesses relying on them should prepare for legal action\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carbon offsets are defined as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A carbon credit is calculated to remove or avoid 1 tonne of CO2, which is around the same as the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in a flight from Paris to New York. The purchase of these credits contributes to projects which aim to help mitigate climate instability through funding new technological or natural solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural projects, not offset-related, are blessed by ClientEarth:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These natural projects can be valuable in fighting climate change<\/strong>. Good examples support local communities and can help to protect critical natural ecosystems, such as forests, that act as \u2018carbon sinks\u2019 absorbing harmful greenhouse gases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here are the problems, some of which were described in yesterday\u2019s post<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But \u2018quality\u2019 in the unregulated carbon credit market can be hard to come by, and harder still to verify. Often described as a \u2018wild west\u2019 industry<\/strong>, too many projects have been found<\/a> to harm the interests of local communities and offer false<\/a> claims of actually making a difference to the amount of CO2 absorbed and stored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another issue is there simply isn\u2019t enough room on the planet to plant the number of trees needed <\/strong>to counterbalance the current level of global emissions without harming food supply. To put this into perspective, a single oil and gas company plans to use a tenth of the globally available unused land to \u2018offset\u2019 its emissions. Enhancing natural sinks will only get us so far, getting to net zero by 2050 is not possible without a hard and fast reduction in emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carbon credits are not offsets, the article continues, but donations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carbon credits are not offsets in the way that a profit offsets a loss. The accurate label for these credits is simply a donation towards climate-friendly projects<\/strong> and not, as marketing for high-carbon products often claims, as a means to \u2018offset\u2019 the harmful climate impacts of the things we buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal issues to such \u201cgreenwashing\u201d are in process around the world. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flawed nature of carbon \u2018offsetting\u2019 is attracting a range of legal risks: non-compliance, shareholder action, litigation, and regulatory enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Netherlands, Shell has been reprimanded twice in succession, first for advertising<\/a> \u2018CO2-neutral\u2019 car petrol, then for trying a different claim<\/a> that carbon credits mean \u2018CO2 compensation\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dutch airline KLM is facing a court action<\/a>, which we\u2019re supporting, for breaching consumer law with its CO2 compensation marketing. Total Energies is facing a similar case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Germany, a claim is being brought against a list of companies for misleading \u2018carbon neutral\u2019 claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the US, financial regulators are getting interested<\/a> in carbon credit markets. And in France, the government has adopted a new law requiring companies to clarify how emissions are being actually reduced before being offset. The list goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Different laws come into play:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bans on companies misleading consumers exist in consumer protection laws and advertising regulations in countries all over the world. Using \u2018carbon neutral\u2019 or compensation marketing<\/strong>, and giving consumers the impression that the climate impact of high-carbon products is thereby addressed, raises a real risk of being found to breach these prohibitions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for companies relying on carbon offsetting in their corporate transition plans, that range of risks increases \u2013 with even company directors liable to be held accountable over miscommunication<\/strong> on the impact \u2018offsetting\u2019 has on emissions reductions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carbon credits are not a \u201cmagic wand,\u201d and they distract from real emission reductions. It is mitigation or bust \u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legal risk of offsetting marketing is growing \u2013 but so too is the risk that we blow opportunities to reduce real-world emissions if false schemes continue to proliferate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To meet climate goals, financial support must be directed at efforts to protect the world\u2019s vital ecosystems, as well as green technologies, and cover the huge funding gap<\/a> for climate loss and damage. This is where financial contributions through carbon credits can have a valuable role to play, but incentivising finance must not provide a perverse incentive to delay critical reduction measures\u2026. The only way out of this crisis is to stop pumping out greenhouse gases at the current devastating rate. Blurring the picture with fictional offsetting only delays that vital action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Comment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The radical environmentalists\u2019 war on \u201cgreenwashing\u201d is a major front in the futile crusade for CO2 mitigation. Perhaps true environmentalists should redirect their aim at grid-connected wind, solar, and batteries instead. A\u00a0machine in every pristine<\/em>\u00a0is hardly ecological, and their sponsors are no \u201cgreener\u201d than the average person desiring clean air and water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post\u00a0Carbon Offsets: Want to Get Sued? (greenwashing as illegality)<\/a>\u00a0appeared first on\u00a0Master Resource<\/a>.<\/mark><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

via Master Resource<\/mark><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/ift.tt\/BwEFjlO<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

October 5, 2022 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The radical environmentalists\u2019 war on \u201cgreenwashing\u201d is a major front in the futile crusade for CO2 mitigation. Perhaps true environmentalists should redirect their aim at grid-connected wind, solar, and batteries instead<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":222329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-222326","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","9":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-242.png?fit=2040%2C1145&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-VPU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":199972,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=199972","url_meta":{"origin":222326,"position":0},"title":"Watchman on Greenwashing","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/05\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Robert Bradley Jr. \u201cBack to the greenwash misdirection\u2026. Why not add U.S. DOE secretary Jennifer \u201cPlease get your rig count up\u201d Granholm to the list? How about the wind and solar developers who really don\u2019t care about the damage they cause around them? How about the whole biomass industry?\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/01_Fl3Hnm7HZkN1sucl1xhJaw.png?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/01_Fl3Hnm7HZkN1sucl1xhJaw.png?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/01_Fl3Hnm7HZkN1sucl1xhJaw.png?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/01_Fl3Hnm7HZkN1sucl1xhJaw.png?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/01_Fl3Hnm7HZkN1sucl1xhJaw.png?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":201284,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=201284","url_meta":{"origin":222326,"position":1},"title":"More on \u2018Greenwashing\u2019: The Alarmists\u2019 Policy Alarm","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"25\/05\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Robert Bradley Jr.\u00a0 \u201cThe biggest risk to progress in responsible investment right now is greenwashing. It\u2019s a bigger danger than skepticism, it\u2019s a bigger danger than denialism. Greenwashing is so dangerous because it destroys trust.\u201d (- Dan Mikulskis, below) Declaring war on the most abundant, reliable, convenient energies has\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1a4120207027627f0b-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1a4120207027627f0b-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1a4120207027627f0b-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1a4120207027627f0b-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1a4120207027627f0b-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":305393,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=305393","url_meta":{"origin":222326,"position":2},"title":"New York AG Sues Beef Producer","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"29\/02\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"New York Attorney General Letitia James today filed a\u00a0lawsuit against JBS USA Food Company and JBS USA Food Company Holdings (JBS USA), the American subsidiary of the world\u2019s largest producer of beef products, for misleading the public about its environmental impact.","rel":"","context":"In \"Beef production\"","block_context":{"text":"Beef production","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=beef-production"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0greenwashing.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0greenwashing.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0greenwashing.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0greenwashing.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0greenwashing.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":279736,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=279736","url_meta":{"origin":222326,"position":3},"title":"EU reaches deal banning \u2018climate-neutral\u2019 product\u00a0claims","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"21\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The nonsense of climate greenwashing takes a hit, starting 2026.","rel":"","context":"In \"\u201cclimate-neutral\u201d flying\"","block_context":{"text":"\u201cclimate-neutral\u201d flying","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-neutral-flying"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0cn-logo-hero-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0cn-logo-hero-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0cn-logo-hero-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0cn-logo-hero-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0cn-logo-hero-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":223647,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=223647","url_meta":{"origin":222326,"position":4},"title":"Gray Greenwashing: Is Regulation Next?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Voluntary Carbon Market has produced some of the most egregious examples of\u00a0#greenwashing\u00a0on record and is synonymous with a lack of integrity. Voluntary Schemes do not work and are a distraction from reducing carbon to displacing responsibility for carbon emissions.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/00greenwashing125.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/00greenwashing125.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/00greenwashing125.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/00greenwashing125.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/00greenwashing125.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":199986,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=199986","url_meta":{"origin":222326,"position":5},"title":"The Big \u201aGreen ‘Lie: Why We\u2019ll Never, Ever Be 100% Powered by Wind & Solar Power","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/05\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The wind and solar acolyte in their more delusional moments readily proclaims that an all-wind and sun-powered future is upon us.\u00a0 Never mind sunset; never mind dead calm weather; and never mind the fact that the idea that giant lithium-ion batteries economically storing wind and solar power at grid-scale is\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0chopped-up-blades.webp?fit=962%2C722&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0chopped-up-blades.webp?fit=962%2C722&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0chopped-up-blades.webp?fit=962%2C722&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/0chopped-up-blades.webp?fit=962%2C722&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=222326"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222331,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222326\/revisions\/222331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/222329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=222326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=222326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=222326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}