Checklist for a Successful Senior Leadership Sustainability Training Session

1. Focus on business value (not the climate crisis)
2. Quantify the business value: Demonstrate how sustainability drives financial performance (e.g., brand value, consumer loyalty, cost savings).
3. Focus on where you want to “win the game” vs “play the game”. Align on your “ESG mix” e.g., do you want to focus on single-use materials, water and carbon or do you want to focus on local communities and labour practices?
4. Create stories that can travel: Keep your sustainability stories simple, relevant, and jargon-free. The best kind of narratives are those that can travel through word of mouth.
5. Make it resonate: Take the time to understand their motivations and empower them to champion your efforts. Don't be afraid to share your own sustainability story – it can be a powerful connection point.
6. Remember, this is a primer. Keep it concise and focused on the essentials.

By Saif Hameed, CEO of Altruistiq

Events

• Webinar: How to Create a Useful Product Carbon Footprint, 20th August, 3-3.45 pm (BST), Online. Register interest.
• Women in Sustainability Garden Mixer, Maximising and Managing Sustainability Budgets, August 22nd, London. Register interest.
• State of Sustainability F&B Summit, 10th October, Register interest.

Do you have any feedback on this newsletter?

Please (please) submit it here.

Ask an Expert: Will Green Certificates no longer be accepted by SBTi/ GHG Protocol

Question: Is there a strong indication that green certificates will no longer be accepted in the near future (e.g. by SBTi, GHG protocol)? And instead are Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) the solution, but the solution for what kind of sites (e.g. small showroom in shopping Centre vs. production site in a rural area)? And can / should we group consumption from sites for PPAs in similar regions?

Are there other solutions?

Answer: “Companies should diversify their renewable energy strategies to include direct procurement methods”

There is no definitive answer that green certificates will no longer be accepted in the near future. Although there is a clear trend toward more stringent scrutiny and higher standards for their use in sustainability reporting and GHG accounting.

Companies relying heavily on Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) should stay informed about these developments and diversify their renewable energy strategies to include direct procurement methods like PPAs.

Answered by Piers Cooper, Sustainability Research Manager at Altruistiq

Policy Pulse: SBTi and Carbon Credits - What to Think

SBTi rejects carbon credits from its Net Zero Standards

The SBTi Board made a shock announcement back in April that carbon credits may be used to meet Scope 3 targets. This kicked off a dramatic debate for the heart of corporate sustainability which SBTi is re-opening now by releasing a new Discussion Paper. This flips the earlier position entirely, with SBTi’s latest research roundly rejecting carbon offsets.

Three key positions from SBTi:

• Carbon offsets are ineffective - evidence shows that offset projects are not effective for climate and that they have clear risks in hindering Net Zero action or climate finance.
• There are effective options to improve Scope 3 targets - A better approach to defining target boundaries and understanding the role that businesses have in influencing climate action will create targets that better drive decarbonisation.
• Environmental certificates have a role - certificates have several uses that could align with the Paris Agreement. This includes certifying commodities with good environmental performance or using carbon credits for additional action beyond the value chain.

This is SBTi underlining that there are significant challenges in Scope 3 and that carbon offsets are not the answer.

What are SBTi considering for changes to targets?

The main challenge with Scope 3 targets is that they don’t account for how much effort businesses must put in to achieve them. This is down to targets measuring GHG emissions, where each CO2 tonne is the same regardless of priority or capacity to change.

SBTi offers some options to improve targets:

• Better metrics for climate progress - SBTi suggests measuring outcomes alongside impacts. This is a direct measure of company actions, such as for upstream Scope 3 measuring the share of commodities bought that are Net Zero aligned.
• Consider the role of influence - companies have different levels of market power and influence to drive down emissions sources. SBTi is looking into using this lens of influence to direct companies to different interventions or prioritisations for climate action.

And what about certificates?

Both major types of environmental certificates can work for Net Zero in different scenarios:

• Commodity certificates - these would work by letting buyers prove that their commodities meet Net Zero emission standards. This requires trusted certifiers and traceability to help support claims of high-quality commodity purchases.
• Carbon offsets - high integrity offsets could work well where they are not replacing Scope 3 action. Either by acting as evidence for Scope 3 action, helping support additional action beyond the value chain (BCVM), or tackling residual hard-to-abate emissions.

What does this mean for businesses?

Many sustainability teams would have been looking to SBTi for a combination of clarity on guidelines, hardening of climate ambition, and support to meet Scope 3 goals. On most counts, SBTi’s update succeeds here.

Pointers for businesses:

• A new Corporate Net Zero Standard will take time - a first draft of the Net Zero Standard 2.0 is due in Q4 this year. 2025 will be devoted to consultations and the implemented version will likely be finalised in 2026.
• Some disquiet but SBTi is still dominant on Net Zero - SBTi has responded to its April drama to act with integrity and follow its governance procedures (hopefully) marking a turned corner. SBTi is the leading standard for Net Zero targets, but there is a lot of ire directed to SBTi by the struggling world of carbon offsets.
• Procurement and commodity certificates are a likely path for impact - the most consistent narrative from SBTi’s discussion paper is to expand Scope 3 targets with commodity certificates. To get ahead, one thing to consider is looking into certification schemes and commodity traceability.

By Dan Enzer, Sustainability Research Associate at Altruistiq

Other News

• ?????Brazil’s environment minister urges carbon credit buyers to beware fraud (Financial Times). Marina Silva has “urged greater caution from international buyers of carbon credits”, “after police in the South American country uncovered allegedly fraudulent emissions-offset schemes on stolen land in the Amazon”. This comes as SBTI pushes their decision on offsets to 2025 (edie).
• ?????China plans new carbon emissions control (Reuters). China’s state council has released a “work plan” for establishing a "dual-control" system for carbon emissions – covering emissions per unit of GDP and the absolute emissions total – with the aim “to help it achieve its goal of reaching a peak in the emissions of the climate-warming gases by 2030”. It will come into force during the 2026-2030 five-year period.
• ??Solar and wind overtake fossil fuels in ‘historic’ first for Europe (Independent). Wind and solar power have overtaken fossil fuel-generated power for the first time in Europe, according to new analysis.

Get the SOS newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe here.