H&M takes on the SBTi over Scope 3, The election debate, and the VCM in West Africa

1. H&M engages with SBTi over scope 3

The H&M Group has raised concerns over the Science Based Targets initiative's (SBTi) potential changes to its methodology, in particular the mandate to use? carbon credits for Scope 3 emission abatement.

H&M argues that this approach could weaken corporate climate pledges and discourage real decarbonisation efforts within value chains, which could stifle investments into hard to decarbonise areas.

The company advocates for prioritising actions to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions and warns that reliance on voluntary carbon credits might hinder necessary innovations for systemic change.

H&M urges SBTi to maintain its commitment to science-based targets and real climate action. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going - it seems that the changes the SBTi is potentially proposing might muddy the water when it comes to ‘reduction’ v BVCM initiatives.

H&M have their own financing model that can help boost investment in their supply chains, and I have actually written a medium article on this topic here (feedback welcome!).

2. Sunak V Starmer: Cost of living… cost of inaction?

During the first (pretty poor) TV debate of the general election campaign, Conservative leader and UK PM Rishi Sunak and Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer clashed over their climate strategies. Sunak raised his concern for the financial burden of net-zero policies falling on households, arguing that deploying clean technologies would be costly for everyday citizens.

In contrast, Starmer promised that the Labour Party would invest in renewable energy to reduce bills and drive economic growth with some emphasis on the creation of GB Energy.

All of which could in theory help UK consumers. It was a shame to not have more of the debate focused on leadership when it comes to climate action - and also to have this topic be given less than 5 minutes of the total debate.

This is a huge missed opportunity when? considering the role energy investment can play in easing the cost of living crisis and improving the energy security of UK households, which are both major issues for this election.

Read more? here .

3. West African nations endorse the VCM

West African nations encouraged the international community to offset their carbon emissions. This request was highlighted at a recent open letter to the SBTi where regional leaders emphasised the need for economic incentives to preserve their forests, (which play a crucial role in global carbon sequestration).

The leaders, including; Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal and Togo called for more foreign investment in sustainable projects to not just mitigate global emissions?but?also help drive economic growth in these countries. They argued that?allowing companies to purchase carbon offsets from projects located in West Africa, the countries can leverage their natural resources to benefit both the environment and their economies.

This push from West Africa comes amidst broader discussions on the role of carbon offsets in meeting international climate targets, with many advocating for stricter regulations and better verification mechanisms to ensure the integrity of carbon credits.

Critics argue that such schemes can undermine genuine emission reduction efforts and may lead to exploitation of local communities and resources. They emphasise the importance of transparent and equitable carbon markets that ensure real environmental benefits and protect the rights and livelihoods of indigenous populations. This is a much-needed and well-organised intervention from leaders of countries housing carbon sinks that the whole world depends on.?

People are aware that ideally the VCM shouldn’t have to exist, but investment in the protection of natural carbon sinks is sorely needed.

I think one thing that people forget is that an ‘offset’ is a verb. Projects sell the carbon credits by the tonne as a means of packaging them up. If you then want to make claims against the tonnage you have bought that is up to you - but the end result is the same.

More money for projects that helps to keep potential carbon out the atmosphere. Investment from the VCM to regions of the world that are suffering from chronic underfunding in the fight against climate change is a good thing, and this call from the countries that stand to benefit the most is an encouraging sign that the positive effects are felt and are desired - even with all the recent press about the VCM.

More details here

Summary

As you can see their is fierce debate over the use of the VCM as a funding mechanism for global net-zero v those who wish to see it kept separate and keep focus on reduction. Calls from corporates (in this case H&M) to focus on reduction efforts over is unusual but welcome, and reflects the effort H&M are putting into decarbonising up their supply chain (more here ).

On the other-side, calls from some of the worlds least developed countries calling for funding via the VCM to protect their natural ecosystems is something to note.

It seems UN secretary general António Guterres might have been right when last year he said “In short, our world needs climate action on all fronts — everything, everywhere, all at once.