Carbon Offsetting: An Ineffective and Dangerous Proposal

This is the title of an op-ed published at the initiative of Carbone 4 and our climate experts Mélodie PITRE, Isaure Marchand and Florian Zito which will be published on June 12, 2024, in Les Echos.

What is this about?

The Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) is a certification program for companies that aim to drive ambitious climate action. Since its inception, it has validated the relevance of the climate goals of more than 4,000 companies, establishing itself as a leading certification for climate commitment.

However, on April 9, its board of directors announced its intention to authorize the use of “environmental attribute certificates,” including carbon credits, to meet Scope 3 reduction targets—which, in the vast majority of cases, account for the largest share of a company’s emissions.

This announcement sparked outrage among many climate activists—and rightly so.

In this op-ed, we call on the organization to abandon this course of action because:

It runs counter to the scientific consensus (which is very damaging for a science-based initiative).
It is ineffective in addressing climate change.

It is therefore in the name of scientific rigor and the effectiveness of climate action that we call on the SBTi to withdraw this proposal.

This op-ed was signed by more than 370 signatories, including our partners Alain Grandjean, Jean-Marc Jancovici, Laurent Morel, Daniel Baal, president of Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, and Pascal Demurger, CEO of the MAIF Group.

To read the full op-ed and see the list of all our signatories, Click here