The Road to Net Zero: Core Principles to Prevent Greenwashing
“Net zero” is a topic as hot as the climate these days. With so much regulatory attention being placed on it, companies that do not communicate their net zero efforts appropriately or, worse, intentionally make false and misleading claims will face significant legal, financial, and reputational damage. But by following a few core principles, companies can mitigate these risks. With adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, several countries and companies worldwide have committed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2021, members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) further committed to reaching net zero by 2050. In the short term, more than 9,000 companies, to date, have joined the Race to Zero, pledging to halve global GHG emissions by 2030, according to the United Nations. For the private sector, some of the biggest risks lie in making claims about products, ...