United Nations launched this Thursday a working group to pressure companies to keep their promises of emission reduction.
The 16-member think tank will develop standards to measure the credibility of claims by non-state groups, including cities and businesses, that they are reducing carbon emissions that cause a climate change devastating.
The new body, called the High-Level Group of Experts on Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities, will be chaired by the former Canadian environment minister Catherine McKenna and will include various academics and leaders from business, finance, energy, politics and NGOs.
To mitigate climate change, UN countries agreed to limit the global warming to +1.5 degrees Celsius, which requires, depending on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the carbon neutrality for mid-century.
The Secretary General of the UN, Anthony Guterreswarned that the promises of the states will not be enough if the regional authorities, the polluting companies and the banks that finance them are not going in the same direction.
In February, a landmark IPCC report on the impacts of climate change warned that time had almost run out to ensure a “livable future” for all.
A study of Boston Consulting Group found that some 3,000 companies had made some kind of net-zero emissions commitment by November 2021.
But the companies are accused of “greenwashing” or “green washing”: touting promises of emission reduction while taking actions that undermine those goals.
The UN says greenwashing is made possible by a lack of common standards for assessing the credibility of security commitments. carbon reduction and enforce them.
According to Guterres, the new body will develop standards and try to incorporate them into international regulations.
The UN chief asked the group to make recommendations by the end of the year. “To avert climate catastrophe, we need bold promises coupled with concrete action,” he said.
“Tighter net-zero emission standards and greater accountability around the implementation of these commitments can deliver real and immediate emission reductions.”