Green Strategies, Inc.’s Post

Can I get an “Amen”?! Roger Ballentine, you put into eloquent words the thoughts I’ve had for so long about Scope 3. The guidance was written with the best intentions, and somewhere along the way the purpose was lost. I actually didn’t realize how liberating it was, at Walmart back in the pre-Gigaton supplier reduction goal days…we didn’t have an accurate scope 3 inventory…hell, we had no idea how we were going to measure all the reductions we were coming up with! But that didn’t stop us because we knew there were some juicy reductions to be had and that we could figure out the measurement relative to a baseline. Those actions were so invigorating! I hope that more companies can move beyond analysis paralysis; and, if goal-setting and measurement standards bodies cannot compromise academic rigor for real world progress, then I hope companies can be brave enough to invest in immediate greenhouse gas reductions regardless of whether it “counts” toward achievement of standard goals.

Scope 3 emissions (or "value chain" emissions) often make up the majority of a greenhouse gas inventory and so adequately accounting for these emissions is crucial. But counting emissions cannot be the end goal - we need Scope 3 accounting to effectively encourage actions that reduce real emissions to the atmosphere. It was great to help Roger research and ideate on this issue. I'd recommend giving this article a read!

There is a word in the German language which captures the current crises in GHG accounting, "Verschlimmbessern," which translates roughly, "to make something worse by trying to make it better." Roger Ballentine's hot off the press paper, "Scope 3: what question are we trying to answer?" (below post) focuses on how to cut through the debate about Scope 3 towards doing something about it. From Ballantine: "...as we pursue Scope 3 data as an end in and of itself—instead of only a tool to enable interventions—Rome burns. But we can overcome these shortcomings if, while acknowledging the importance of transparency, we approach value chain emissions squarely with the aspiration of identifying and incentivizing beneficial emissions impact." #sustainability #climateaction #innovation

Calling all Scope 3 "fans"! I'm very pleased that my latest peer-reviewed paper on greenhouse gas accounting has gone live. While my last paper, published by Oxford press, (see earlier post) covered the broader landscape of how GHG accounting rules and the rules of key leadership programs like SBTi are actually undercutting the contributions that the private sector might otherwise make to mitigating climate change, this paper goes deeper into Scope 3 accounting and its treatment by leadership programs. Bottom line -- anyone who cares deeply about climate change should be very dissatisfied with the status quo. It is true that this week SBTi seemed to indicate it is moving in a more positive direction (inching toward the type of recommendations from my last paper and this one), but change is not happening fast enough. Hope folks will take a look. https://lnkd.in/eWibkeMb

A very timely article from Roger Ballentine - making the case that the rules and expectations for Scope 3 emissions should focus more squarely on incentivising, enabling and optimising actual beneficial climate impact - including by enabling market-based approaches. Absolutely!

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I continue to be flabbergasted at the response to the Science Based Targets initiative's announcement last week. It's worth taking a moment to read, again, what they said. Here's the operative statement: "SBTi recognizes that, when properly supported by policies, standards and procedures based on scientific evidence, the use of environmental attribute certificates for abatement purposes on Scope 3 emissions could function as an additional tool to tackle climate change." This is hardly the unambiguous endorsement of carbon markets it's being painted to be. If we want to claim to make decisions based on science, we have to adhere to the most basic principles of science, one of which is to avoid leaping to conclusions ahead of both the collection of data and its analysis. Read the above quotation again - that's the "data" we have to base conclusions on. Now look at some of the conclusions people are leaping to: "The move was a corporate takeover of SBTi that will undermine any 'science-based' credibility they had." "This 'wild move' is an attempt to keep the business model [of offsets] alive, it's not an attempt to save the climate." "[The decision] renders the standard for climate action meaningless." None of the people who made these quotations has seen the actual proposal that will result from the board's announcement - not the system it sets up, not the safeguards it puts in place, not the scope of emissions it might effect, not the considerations it will be based on. They are reaching conclusions far, far, far ahead of the data. I know we live in an era of hot takes and instant outrage, but even by our own dismal standards of civility this response has been remarkable. Please, everyone, just hold some mental space that your initial, knee-jerk response to this announcement and what it MIGHT mean could - COULD - be incorrect.