Carbon offsets need standardization: Glencore

Companies have been using carbon offsets for years to help reach their emissions goals but trading firm Glencore would like to see a more uniform, standardized approach to measuring the impact of global offsets.

While offsets are a critical part of hitting net-zero goals, there is still "a perceived lack of predictability" in the space, Anna Krutikov, head of sustainable development at Glencore, said today during the BNEF Summit. More commonality and harmonization around offsets would help Glencore and other companines "move forward in more predictable ways."

Glencore has set targets of reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40pc by 2035 compared to 2019 levels and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Once it reaches the interim goal, the firm sees a role for tools such as nature-based solutions, carbon sequestration and storage for further emissions reductions.

"What we hope to see, and what we hope to see happen in COP 26, is a conversation around articulating further Article 6 of Paris agreement and developing those frameworks and mechanisms that can support a more uniform, standardized approach to offsets globally," she said.

The UN climate talks, COP 26, are scheduled to take place in November in Glasgow, Scotland. One of the key issues for the talks is the rules around international carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris climate agreement.

While Glencore is planning to use offsets toward the last leg of its net-zero plan, US technology giant Google kicked off its sustainability journey in 2007 by purchasing offsets to cover its operational emissions.

But the company in September announced it was on a path to operate on clean energy around the clock by 2030. A central pillar of its strategy is to not emit GHGs at all.

"It's not a net-zero goal, it's an absolute-zero goal for our operational emissions and something we're going to be thinking very hard about," said Marsden Hanna, head of sustainability and climate policy at Google.

In 2019, around 61pc of hours of the year were carbon free, he said.

Offsets were an "important tool" for Google, and Hanna believes there is an "important role for offsets going forward."

But offsets were considered an interim solution at the start of the company's sustainability journey based on what mitigation strategies were available at the time.

Now the majority of Google's attention is "focused more on how to operate our company physically in a way that avoids the needs to use offsets in the first place."

By Julia Martinez