Head of group overseeing corporate climate targets quits after backlash

The chief executive of the world’s leading arbiter of corporate climate targets said he was stepping down for “personal reasons”, in the wake of staff calls for him to quit over the Science Based Targets initiative’s stance on carbon offsets.

Luiz Amaral will leave his role as chief executive of SBTi at the end of this month, and chief legal officer Susan Jenny Ehr will step in as interim CEO.

Dozens of SBTi staff members called for Amaral’s resignation after the organisation said in April that the companies it assesses would be allowed to use carbon offsets at scale to meet their climate pledges.

But Amaral cited personal reasons for his departure, with no further information about the circumstances. “These issues require my full attention at this time, prompting my decision to step down,” he said.

Amaral, who was SBTi’s first chief executive when appointed in February 2022, said it was “time for new leadership to take the helm”. “I remain steadfast in my belief in the importance, the impact, and the promising future of the SBTi,” he said.

The corporate climate oversight group had been transformed from an “informal group into a structured and professional organisation”, he said, with the number of companies with validated climate targets rising fivefold to more than 5,500 during his tenure.

SBTi’s decision to allow companies to use carbon offsets came earlier this year after a six-month review. It proposed to allow their use when “properly supported by policies, standards and procedures based on scientific evidence”.

But staff at SBTi raised concerns that major polluters and fossil fuel financiers could be given a green light to buy offsets rather than focus on cutting their own emissions. Amaral had expressed “deep regret” at the fallout but said he stood by the board’s decision.

The credits, which are meant to represent a tonne of carbon removed or reduced from the atmosphere, are generated by projects such as tree planting. But climate advocates question whether they really do drive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

The issue also highlighted the role of those funding the SBTi, led by the Bezos Earth Fund. The SBTi began as a collaboration between non-profit groups including the Carbon Disclosure Project, the We Mean Business Coalition, the World Wide Fund for Nature and the World Resources Institute.

As it expanded its paid-for validation services, it also raised funds from private philanthropic interests, including Bezos, the Ikea Foundation and the Laudes Foundation.

Eighty civil society organisations on Tuesday spoke out against the use of carbon offsets, calling on the SBTi and others to exclude offsets and stick to scientifically-sound methodologies for tracking corporate climate efforts. They argued offsets could delay concrete climate action.

Others, however, have backed SBTi’s move, including industry groups such as the We Mean Business Coalition.

SBTi on Monday said the total number of companies with science-based targets increased by 102 per cent during 2023 compared to all previous years. Companies that make up 39 per cent of global market capitalisation have validated targets or had made commitments, it said.

Last year, the SBTi said it would split in two, with a standalone UK company set up to examine and validate corporate net zero emission targets, a service for which it charges fees, with profits sent to a separate non-profit umbrella body.

Remarking on Amaral’s departure, SBTi chair Francesco Starace, said “the crucial work of SBTi will continue”.

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