Carbon-neutral shampoo, carbon-neutral wine, carbon-neutral beef, carbon-neutral chocolate—as consumers prioritize carbon reduction, a wide variety of carbon-neutral products are beginning to appear on supermarket shelves. However, Nestlé has gone the other way, recently announcing it will drop carbon-neutral claims for products like KitKat and Perrier. Rather than sparking outcry, this move has been praised by international media as a positive development.
"Carbon neutrality" has repeatedly become a target, with KitKat, Gucci, and EasyJet all backing off their statements.
In 2021, KitKat announced it would strive to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025, a goal reversed in 2023. Bloomberg reported that Nestlé explained that the company's goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 has not changed, but that products like KitKat and Perrier will no longer use carbon offsets to achieve carbon neutrality, instead focusing on reducing carbon emissions within the supply chain.
Production, manufacturing, and transportation, as well as company electricity consumption and business travel, all generate carbon dioxide, making it difficult for companies to achieve zero carbon emissions. Therefore, companies purchase carbon credits to offset these emissions, achieving so-called "carbon neutrality." These credits can come from carbon offset programs like planting trees or protecting wetlands, or even from as far away as Africa, South America, or a small island. In recent years, many projects have been exposed as false carbon reductions, which has led to companies being accused of "greenwashing" and even facing lawsuits. Evian mineral water bottles are facing legal action in the United States over the "carbon neutral" label. The plaintiffs allege that it's not just a marketing gimmick, but also misleads consumers into believing the water's production doesn't emit carbon dioxide, leading them to pay more for it. KitKat isn't the first company to abandon carbon neutrality. Italian fashion brand Gucci also used carbon offsets and claimed on its website that it had achieved carbon neutrality in 2019, but later retracted the claim and canceled its partnership with Swiss carbon offset consultancy South Pole. In 2021, Greenpeace's investigative journalism platform, Unearthed, and The Guardian jointly exposed flaws in airline carbon offset programs. They discovered that the credits purchased by EasyJet came from a supposed forest conservation program, but the program was actually run by two logging companies, which cut down valuable tree species. EasyJet also announced in September 2022 that it would no longer use carbon offsets starting in January 2023.
Reducing carbon emissions on one's own will actually increase credibility.
The Guardian reported that after abandoning carbon offsets, EasyJet will instead achieve net zero through sustainable aviation fuel, improved fuel efficiency, carbon capture, and hydrogen-powered engines. The company plans to replace its aircraft with traditional kerosene, which is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 15%.
Nestlé plans to introduce "carbon insetting" to reduce carbon emissions within its own supply chain, such as helping farmers transition to sustainable agriculture, restoring wetlands, and protecting pollinator habitats.
Although the NewClimate Institute notes that carbon insetting lacks a globally standardized verification standard and is difficult to verify, Bloomberg climate columnist Mark Gongloff commented that reducing carbon emissions through the efforts of companies themselves and their supply chains, rather than through purchasing carbon reduction credits, is highly meaningful and more credible. Fortunately, this approach is gradually becoming a trend.
Source: Environmental Information Center (https://e-info.org.tw/node/237148)
