Christopher Thornberg’s Post

📢 Climate targets must focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions within companies’ and countries’ own boundaries.    But the growing trend towards carbon offsetting is bending that rule, including the public statement of the Science Based Targets initiative’s Board of Trustees.    ✊ Today, 80+ civil society organisations are calling on carbon accounting bodies and climate target-setting bodies to curb this dangerous trend.    Read more in our joint statement: https://lnkd.in/ef-J_Uy6

⛔ Ideology instead of knowledge. It has become common knowledge in the activist climate community that offsetting undermines GHG mitigation and we can one more time see a pushback against carbon credits. On one hand, this disregards solid research showing that companies relying on carbon credits are actually reducing their emissions. As a report from Trove Research shows companies that use material quantities of carbon credits are decarbonising at twice the rate of companies that do not use carbon credits. This also ignores the reality of climate policy. E.g. the EU ETS will stop suppling allowances to the primary market in 2040, while certain residual emissions will still be present. Or we introduce offsets or we deal with an extremely high carbon price. This brings me to another issue, this repeated pushback is also worrying from a just transition perspective. Especially, in Europe we are facing growing scepticism towards climate action and certain NGOs seem to be ignoring it or making unrealistic propositions to solve it. In the EU the carbon abatement cost in the combined industry & energy sector is at around 70 EUR per eq. t/CO2 . In other countries it might be 10, 20, 30 EUR. Bringing high quality offsets back into the EU ETS (would require several legal reforms) could ease financial pressure of decarbonization felt throughout the society. Last but not least, even in the IPCC reports it is stated that reaching the 1.5 C target will require CO2 removals. I guess these 80 NGO have a great idea how to fund this (irony). Regardless if someone likes it or not, our climate policy for many reasons needs offsetting and this ideological push mostly undermines the credibility of the NGOs standing behind it.

Every industry is being challenged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially with the U.S. government’s commitment to combat climate change and increase funding for these efforts. To examine the impact of industrial real estate emissions and reduction strategies, BranchPattern released its 2023 Benchmark Study on Embodied Carbon in U.S. Industrial Real Estate in partnership with five industrial real estate developers. Read more: https://ow.ly/EBjL50PNU46

Every industry is being challenged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially with the U.S. government’s commitment to combat climate change and increase funding for these efforts. To examine the impact of industrial real estate emissions and reduction strategies, BranchPattern released its 2023 Benchmark Study on Embodied Carbon in U.S. Industrial Real Estate in partnership with five industrial real estate developers. Read more: https://ow.ly/8Vrw50PNU45

🚨 Urgent: California's Climate Crisis 🌎 #thedsgway #ClimateAction #SustainableFuture Check out our latest blog on California's emissions challenge! Despite leading in climate action, California faces hurdles to meet its 2030 goal. Read more: https://rebrand.ly/kf15126 📝🌟

🚨 Urgent Alert: California's Climate Crisis 🌎 #thedsgway #newblogpost #climateaction Dive into our latest blog dissecting the urgent report by Beacon Economics and Next 10, sounding the alarm on California's emissions trajectory! Despite leading in climate action, the state faces a daunting challenge in meeting its 2030 goal. 😱 Key Points: 1️⃣ Urgent Imperative for Action: California must triple its annual emissions reductions to stay on track! 💨 2️⃣ Recent Trends and Challenges: Emissions surged in 2021, with transportation and power sectors posing setbacks. 📈 3️⃣ Striving for Climate Leadership: Despite being the largest economy, California isn't on target! 💡 4️⃣ The Path Forward: Bold steps are needed to align with 2030 targets. 🌱 Conclusion: Our blog is a wake-up call for California! It's time for bold action to combat climate change and lead toward a sustainable future. 💪 Read more at https://rebrand.ly/kf15126 and join the conversation! 📝🌟 #ClimateAction #CaliforniaEmissions #SustainableFuture 🚀

If you would like to make a difference in CALIFORNIA, take action for NATURE: Climate Vote California: www.climatevoteca.org What is the ballot measure? The initiative is called the CALIFORNIA CLIMATE SOLUTIONS ACT OF 2024. INCREASES STATE GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION GOALS. What does this ballot measure do? This measure closes loopholes (in CA law) that allows the fossil fuel industry to continue polluting. Why do we need this ballot measure? CA is not reducing at the speed of climate crisis.

Breaking down barriers: How the environmental impact of vehicle emissions from the wealthy is affecting our entire community. Learn more from these 2 articles based on @UMassAmherst research "Income-based U.S. household carbon footprints (1990–2019) offer new insights on emissions inequality and climate finance" https://t.ly/pF61K https://t.ly/u0wqW

There have been scandals before, like in the case of RIN certifications at the beginning of the USA program... that usually end when someone goes to jail. The fact that a carbon sequestration method is not permanent doesn't make it less valuable or "tank" any progress. As usual, the most important question is "What is the base case?" Reduced emissions from deforestation are always tricky, especially when they talk about old forests in the tropics which tend to have less net carbon capture capability than young forests in temperate climates. Also, we have to consider the scientific fact that "there's a sucker born every minute"... (and if you find it it is yours). The desperation of certain companies for virtual signaling is such, that they may fall for doubtful claims, especially when they have been certified by reputable registries with well-thought processes, including public stakeholder consultations. Nobody is perfect. The carbon offsets are a way to finance certain projects that would be impossible to do without the offset income. There is no doubt that forest management, avoiding deforestation, conversion of grasslands, and wetlands restoration have a positive impact on the carbon balance. I prefer spending my (tax) money on that than on absurd things like DAC or hydrogen for home heating... wouldn't you? We just need to put someone in jail.

How can missing Scope 3 data be estimated? We address the query in our latest climate impact research. https://lnkd.in/gHmbStEf #SustainableGrowth