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Voluntary carbon market platform Patch warns against plan to wait to finalise rulebook for delivering net zero corporate value chains until 2025
The CEO of a voluntary carbon market platform has written an open letter to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI), urging the body to hasten the timeline for confirming new guidance around how companies can tackle Scope 3 or value chain emissions in line with their net zero goals.
Brendan Spellacy of Patch said the SBTI was at risk of a "legacy of delaying climate action for the planet" if it stuck to its current plan of finalising the high profile guidelines in the final quarter of 2025.
"This timeline is too long," Spellacy wrote. "The planet cannot wait. We are deeply concerned about the negative climate impact of waiting another 18 months for decisive guidance on the use of high-integrity carbon credits for Scope 3 abatement."
Spinney called on the SBTI to pull forward its deadline for the finalisation of the guidance by a year and instead release it by the end of 2024, arguing the delays to the rules were holding back corporate investment in climate solutions.
"Our interactions with over 500 corporate customers across the globe has made it clear that the uncertainty surrounding whether carbon credits can be used to address Scope 3 emissions as part of SBTi-validated targets is preventing companies from channelling finance to these essential climate solutions," he said.
The SBTI is currently in the process of updating the rules for how companies can use carbon credits to count towards emissions targets for their value chains, as part of its first major revision to its Net Zero Standard.
The exercise has sparked a major row within the organisation and across the broader green economy around the extent to which carbon credits should be used to tackle emissions in corporate supply chains.
In April, the SBTI's Board announced a plan to "extend" the use of "environmental attribute certificates" - a category of carbon credits that includes carbon offsets - to allow them to count towards corporate value chain emissions targets.
The proposal was slammed by dozens of charities and non-profits, and sparked an internal backlash, with employees accusing the board of failing to adequately consult staff on the matter. Earlier this month, SBTI CEO Luiz Amaral announced his resignation, citing personal reasons. And earlier this week news agency Reuters reported that an official complaint has been lodged with the Charity Commission by a former staff member, accusing the standards body of having acted "recklessly" and "against its mission" when it proposed the changes.
The SBTI declined to comment on the call for it to fast-track its Scope 3 guidance. But in a statement provided to BusinessGreen on Monday, the group stressed the board's announcement in the Spring had been a "strategic steer" and confirmed it planned to embark on an "extensive consultation process" before pressing ahead with any changes to its Net Zero Standard.
Supporters of the SBTI's proposed reforms - which include a number of high-profile green business groups - claim a high-quality, transparent, and credible carbon market can drive much-needed investment into carbon removal and nature projects, while helping corporates' tackle "residual" emissions in their supply chains that are hard to abate.
But critics contend relaxing the rules around the use of carbon credits would discourage companies from taking action to reduce emissions at source. They argue the voluntary carbon market is failing to drive meaningful climate action, with a glut of low-cost credits flooding the market linked to climate and nature projects that have had a questionable impact.
Spellacy said the voluntary carbon market had a major role to play to tackle an ever-intensifying climate crisis, as he urged the SBTI to fast-track its plans to update the guidance.
"Just as the urgency with which we need to tackle the climate crisis has increased over the last decade, so too has the role the voluntary carbon market can play in these efforts," he said. "Now, by leveraging the work already done by the broader community, SBTi has every tool required to act rapidly on updating its guidance, while still maintaining the scientific rigour of the initiative."
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