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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/28/corporations-using-ineffectual-carbon-offsets-are-slowing-path-to-real-zero-more-than-60-climate-scientists-say>
"Carbon offsets used by corporations around the world to lower their reportable
greenhouse gas emissions are “ineffectual” and “hindering the energy
transition”, according to more than 60 leading climate change scientists.
A pledge signed by scientists from nine countries, including the UK, the US and
Australia, said the “only path that can prevent further escalation of climate
impacts” was “real zero” and not “net zero”.
The “real zero pledge” was organised by the Lethal Humidity Global Council, a
group of scientists, health experts and policymakers.
Among the signatories are Prof Michael Mann, of the University of Pennsylvania;
Prof Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact
Research; and Bill Hare, founder of Climate Analytics and a member of a UN
expert group that has warned about the overuse of carbon offsets.
“We should be focused on real reductions in emissions, rather than engaging in
a counting game,” Hare said.
The pledge reflects growing concerns that large amounts of carbon offsets
generated from forest-related projects or, in Australia, from avoided land
clearing, and then traded, may not have actually reduced emissions.
The Lethal Humidity Global Council is a group focused on the threat of rising
temperatures that, when combined with high humidity, can threaten human health.
Prof Katrin Meissner, director of the Climate Change Research Centre at the
University of New South Wales and a signatory, said many offset programs
focused on growing trees or allowing areas to regrow.
But she said these could not lock carbon away forever because, when the trees
die, such as in droughts or wildfires, they rereleased the carbon back into the
atmosphere.
“A reliance on carbon offsets without the needed emission reductions is
dangerous and detrimental,” she said.
“To keep global warming within the guardrails of the Paris agreement, the
timeframe is now so tight that there is no space for companies to use
offsetting to continue high-carbon activities. We need to turn the fossil fuel
taps off, all of them.”"
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
