WALKING THE TALK ABOUT E.S.G…OR, WHEN THE STANDARDS SETTERS DON’T FOLLOW THEIR OWN STANDARDS
Maybe you saw the headline: Climate target group in turmoil over carbon offsetting plan. The board of the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)—a consortium established to “Lead the way to a net-zero economy, boost innovation and drive sustainable growth by setting ambitious, science-based emissions reduction targets”—jumped its own process, sidestepped its Technical Advisory Committee and its staff work on “environmental attribute certificates” (including carbon offsets), and “decided to extend their use for the purpose of abatement of Scope 3 related emissions beyond the current limits.”
Carbon offsets are a difficult enough issue themselves (see the next heading below), but here we had the messy irony of an international protocols body failing to follow its own protocols!
The reaction was swift across the climate universe, including a fierce open letter from SBTi’s staff. SBTi co-founder Cynthia Cummis posted that she was “Impressed with the courage of the SBTi staff.” As am I.
The issue isn’t just about the merits of carbon offsets (which is a long discussion) but about the SBTi board circumventing their own stated, formal processes, and the foundational requirement, in my view, that anything “science-based” be transparent and peer reviewed. This little kerfuffle also raises the old and oft-neglected question of “To whom is an NGO board accountable?” Its funders? Its staff? Itself? Its mission? The public interest? It matters! Bill Baue, who’s been on SBTI’s case since its inception for failing to adequate address sustainability context (among other things), noted that “this instance demonstrates that the SBTi Board is NOT acting in accountability to its staff or to science, and evidence is fairly clear (from Kenza Bryan‘s FT piece) that the Board is dancing to the tune of its funder (Bezos Earth Fund).”
In a matter of days the SBTi board backed down. (I had figured it was pretty likely this would resolve very quickly, or that things would get weird. I’m glad it was the former. Now let’s get some popcorn, and see what happens next—since the carbon offsets matter is far from settled.)
SO, IF NOT OFFSETS, THEN CARBON REMOVAL, RIGHT? WELL…
Speaking of carbon offsets, there’s also the controversial matter of carbon capture and storage. I’m rarely directive with you, folks, but you need to read “Don’t Bet on Carbon Removal,” Joe Romm’s cover story in Environmental Forum. The summary:
“Net zero” emissions depends on a dangerous myth. Proposals now center on three prominent strategies for CO2 removal—tree planting, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and direct air capture—but they are not scalable, and could make things worse.”
MEANWHILE, MORE BIG CLIMATE NEWS. (IS THIS GIVING YOU ANY IDEAS?)
From the NY Times report: In a “landmark climate ruling…an international court determined that governments were legally obligated to meet their climate targets under human rights law.“
“Europe’s top human rights court said on Tuesday that the Swiss government had violated its citizens’ human rights by not doing enough to stop climate change, a landmark ruling that experts said could bolster activists hoping to use human rights law to hold governments to account.”
Who brought the case? Grandmothers! Obvious prediction: Expect to see more legal action like this to come!
AND THIS WEEK: “HEALING THE WORLD IN 18 MONTHS?”
Join us this Wednesday, April 17th for our next Living Between Worlds, and a conversation with regenerative design master Bill Reed about a provocative process for “Healing the World in 18 Months!” A co-founder of the LEED green building rating system, and former VP at Natural Logic, Bill is a principal in two firms (Regenerative Development Corp and Regenesis), and an unusually eloquent, effective, and busy pioneer of Regenerative Development—an integrative, whole and living system design process. Join us to learn how Bill has applied this process around the world—both to ecologically regenerative real estate development, and to bring people who are at each others throats together into harmony and common purpose.
Living Between Worlds convenes the third Wednesday of every month, 12:00pm-1:30pm Pacific time. Can’t make it? Want to watch a session again? As always you can watch prior sessions (including last month’s exploration of “What might it be like if we did business, and everything else, as though we actually belonged to the living world?”) on our YouTube archive.
Because people are hungry for meaningful conversations that move worlds. Let’s have some!”