As initiatives to address climate change grow more urgent, the public has become more discerning. The media and even many consumers are quicker to distinguish between high-quality corporate initiatives and the more superficial, greenwashing ones.
This higher standard is a good and necessary development for the planet overall, but it has also led to some hesitancy among business leaders in the short term, when it comes to being public about their climate work.
Many well-intentioned companies now avoid publicizing their carbon credits purchases as part of their comprehensive climate change strategies. But this silence is detrimental to progress.
Why aren’t companies publicizing their offsets?
The hesitation among companies to share carbon credit purchases stems primarily from a fear of criticism and backlash. Companies worry about facing public scrutiny for their decisions. This fear is compounded by the complexity and evolving nature of the carbon market, which presents its own set of risks and uncertainties.
The carbon market is maturing, which is resulting in increased transparency, higher standards, and more robust verification processes. This sets a higher bar for the claims companies make. While there are undoubtedly still some PR risks to getting these communications wrong or facing criticism for the claims, this should not deter companies from making public claims.
Simply participating in the carbon market isn’t always enough. As more companies share their claims publicly, it makes it easier for the more risk-averse companies to participate in the emerging market as well. When considered through a more entrepreneurial lens, the current uncertainties are simply opportunities to lead and shape the market for the better.
An opportunity to help grow the carbon market
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Corporate investment is what fuels the voluntary carbon market, jump-starting critical forestry projects that might not otherwise have had the resources to exist. This helps accelerate decarbonization. Companies that step up early and publicly can influence the market's trajectory, ensuring that carbon offset initiatives contribute to our climate goals. Consider the Symbiosis Coalition for instance.
Symbiosis Coalition is taking the lead in the carbon market
The Symbiosis Coalition (composed of Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Salesforce) is like a buyers’ club for nature-based credits, taking courageous action together.
The coalition focuses on advancing nature-based solutions for climate goals, integrating new technology, and involving Indigenous Peoples and local communities to help facilitate environmental and social benefits alongside carbon sequestration.
Its members aim to set and follow unified quality standards for nature-based carbon projects by ensuring that the projects are scientifically sound and transparently measured. By doing so, they have also sent a strong market signal, encouraging other businesses, NGOs, and project developers to follow suit.
In other words, they’re taking a collaborative rather than competitive approach to fighting climate change, in part because their actions are good for all companies collectively.
The benefits of Symbiosis keeping their carbon credits public
Symbiosis will face criticism for any shortcomings in their efforts. However, there are major advantages to acting now in such a public manner:
- Together they’re creating demand for these nature-based solutions, spurring the market forward, and putting more trees in the ground.
- They’re playing a major role in shaping the future of the carbon market, helping rebuild public trust in the efficacy and sincerity of nature-based climate solutions.
Where do you fit in?
Not every company is the right company to engage in emerging markets, but every company will be impacted by climate change. “Playing it safe” with your brand today will carry its own risks later on.
From the decline of available resources like timber and water, to the increase in fires, droughts, and flooding affecting supply chains, climate change will damage business across the board unless we can sufficiently limit it.
We understand people don’t want to face criticism about their good intentions, and that’s a valid concern. But as any leader can testify, you can’t create positive change without taking on some degree of risk. And by better understanding climate claims in the first place, companies can make public claims with greater confidence.
Being a courageous leader now creates a stronger carbon market in the future, helping projects get more funds and creating more opportunities to slow climate change.
At Arbor Day Carbon, we enjoy working with the kinds of people who like being early adopters in making positive change in the world. We’ve been working for early adopters in the voluntary carbon market since 2010, and we’re eager to work with the next ones. To learn more about what you can do, get in touch with us today.
