Fifteen blue chip companies in the United Kingdom have quietly dropped their commitment to a net zero pledge originally funded by Jeff Bezos, according to the Telegraph.
What's happening?
Bezos was a large funder of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI). This group asked companies to commit to reducing their emissions in line with current climate science. Once they signed, they had two years to come up with plans that would align their business with current research.
While many companies signed on to the pledge, over 790 of them have now been removed. Fifteen of those are located in the United Kingdom. They include Marks & Spencer, Unilever, and British Airways. Some are making commitments to figure out a plan soon, while others don't have any recorded response to their removal from the list.
Why is committing to net zero emissions important?
According to the University of Oxford's Net Zero project, the term refers to making sure any dirty gases going into the atmosphere are balanced by an equal amount of gas removal. This is important because, according to the National Academies, these gases going into the atmosphere are causing the earth to get warmer.
The United Nations explains that a warming Earth is bad for its inhabitants because it changes the environment in ways that are, eventually, damaging to human health and well-being. It leads to more droughts and floods, as well as higher sea levels, loss of coastal land, more wildfires, and other issues.
It's key that these companies need to do more than commit, though. They need to follow through. Otherwise, they are guilty of greenwashing themselves — making themselves look like they care about the environment more than they actually do.
What's being done about this failure to commit to net zero?
Calling these companies out publicly is what the people at SBTI are doing, and it may be the first step toward getting these companies to actually do what they said they would. An SBTI representative said, "Urgent, deep emissions cuts are essential if we are to tackle climate change, so the role of near-term targets is incredibly important. … The SBTI is working with urgency to ensure that companies stay the course and that its standards are implementable."
Other people are putting pressure on financial institutions to stop lending to companies that are not sticking to their commitments. If you want to make a difference, buy from companies that are not only committed to making change, but are demanding it from the government.
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