<
https://theconversation.com/the-nz-aviation-industry-is-making-bold-climate-claims-and-risking-anti-greenwashing-litigation-219591>
"On the same day last week that Air New Zealand announced the purchase of its
first fully electric aircraft, Christchurch Airport announced it had reached “a
new standard for decarbonisation”. On the face of it, great news for reducing
aviation emissions in Aotearoa.
The reality is a little more complex – and risky. As the climate warms, so too
is the temperature in boardrooms and courtrooms. The aviation industry is under
increasing scrutiny for its sustainability claims, and climate litigation is on
the rise.
At the same time, “net zero” strategies in general are being challenged. The
United Nations High-Level Expert Group was established at last year’s COP27
summit, as Secretary General António Guterres explained, because “net zero
suffers from a surplus of confusion and a deficit of credibility”.
The expert group has put forward a set of net-zero guidelines to put a “red
line through greenwashing”. The guidelines underpin the UN’s approach to net
zero, which requires corporate entities to advance ambitious climate mitigation
actions based on rigorous and comprehensive science-based targets.
Among other things, the targets must include emissions reductions from the
entity’s full value chain and activities. These include emissions from sources
the entity owns and controls directly (known as scope 1); emissions the entity
causes indirectly (scope 2); and emissions not produced by the entity itself,
but arising up and down its value chain (scope 3).
The expert group also notes that voluntary carbon credits (offsets) cannot be
counted towards interim emissions reductions required on the pathway to Net
Zero 2050. This is because carbon offsetting has been shown to be troublesome
at best, and in many cases a scam."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
