Over the past year, the term carbon neutral has hit several headlines, not necessarily for the right reasons, which may prompt one to wonder what the problem with being carbon neutral is. And is there more to the confusion around this term than meets the eye of the general public? The term gained prominence as numerous products and companies branded themselves as carbon neutral, raising concerns about greenwashing and the authenticity of such claims.
The landscape of carbon neutrality—specifying what is included—is evolving. Just this week, the Board of the Science Based Targets Initiative—which provides standards used by over 5000 companies to establish net-zero carbon or carbon neutrality targets—released a. This statement has implications for what might be included in the scope of carbon neutrality in the future. However, the jury is still out on the matter, as only the revised standards can pass the final verdict.
Regarding including carbon offsets in neutrality claims, most experts generally support that claims of carbon neutrality should be based on the emission reduction impacts within the value chain, not on using carbon credits or offsets of greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere. In line with this understanding, the EU Parliament passed a new regulation to ban greenwashing and improve consumer information.