Gästbloggare
Three weeks ago I wrote about the Ecosystem Marketplace report which concluded that CDP-reporting companies that buy carbon offsets are doing more to reduce their emissions than those that don’t offset. The report ends with a list of the top 100 voluntary offset buyers in the world. Sadly the only Swedish companies on that list no longer qualify.
Yet we think of Sweden as a world leader in sustainable business. And Sweden has some very large companies – 23 companies in the Forbes Global 2000 and around 100 reporting to CDP. So why aren’t there any Swedish companies on the current top 100 voluntary offsetters list?
One reason could be that the Swedish companies that are offsetting significant volumes of emissions are privately- rather than publicly-owned so they simply don’t appear on the list. But given Sweden’s focus on sustainability, why haven’t publicly-owned companies adopted offsetting as part of their climate strategy, as in other countries?
Could it be that Swedish companies think they do enough for the planet already? Or could it be that Swedish business fears criticism for using carbon offsets as an excuse for business as usual?
I would challenge both the ”we’re good enough already” and the ”offsetting is just an excuse” arguments. There is a long way to go to reduce emissions to a sustainable level and carbon offsetting is something that can be done today. And if Swedish business is reducing emissions beyond business as usual, why fear being criticised for offsetting? Furthermore the evidence is that companies that offset do more than others to reduce their emissions, not less.
So my question is this: which publicly-owned Swedish companies will take a lead and get themselves onto the 2015 global top 100 voluntary offset buyers list?
/Claire Wigg, Zeromission
