Risks of climate pledges & plans not materializing

Here’s an excerpt from this note by Lawrence Heim:

Readers know I am skeptical of the current state of Net Zero/climate commitments. I’ve written previously about offset scams and climate reporting fraud (here and here). The topic is also discussed at length in my book. Perhaps the biggest problem I pointed out there is that:

“Many, if not most, of the companies signed up for Net Zero commitments are not anticipating making actual reductions, at least not anytime soon. Instead, they are over-relying on buying carbon offsets to meet their goals. Furthermore, the multi-decade time horizon frequently committed to in Net Zero pledges (many times, up to the year 2050) means today’s executives/managers take credit for climate action, while kicking the can down the road for successors to face tough decisions.”

Bad news continues to pile up about the future of relying on others to develop solutions to reduce your emissions. Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported on two developments that could affect common assumptions used by companies towards their climate pledges and in disclosures.