Companies Facing Carbon Offset Backlash Quietly Fund Their Own Projects
- Media Manager
- Apr 3, 2023
- 1 min read
Big corporate emitters are bypassing middlemen and creating in-house carbon credits.
Bloomberg
Written By: Alastair Marsh
Published: April 4, 2023
Carbon offsetting is “a fundamental mechanism to move capital where it is needed for nature, climate and health,” said Adele Cheli, sustainability partnerships and strategy director at GSK. “Just because it’s not perfect doesn’t mean we’re going to step out. We’re going to lean in and make it better.”
Other companies are pursuing similar ideas. Shell Plc was the first large company to branch out into offsets development and has created a “nature-based solutions” team that's working on projects from Australia to Senegal. TotalEnergies SE plans to invest $100 million a year in nature-based projects to develop a “natural carbon sink capacity” of more than five million tons of CO2 per year from 2030. BP Plc owns a majority stake in a carbon offset developer and has “scaled up” its carbon credit development efforts.
Existing offsetting schemes are “being challenged,” said Klaus Kunz, head of ESG strategy at Bayer, the German drug and agriculture company. “Quality of the projects is key. If done properly, this is a positive tool.”
