Shell Oil, Chevron and other major corporations have set lofty climate goals that rely in part on them funding green projects such as wind power plants in Turkey and Vietnam.
But the corporate spending, which aims to offset the businesses’ own greenhouse gas emissions, is facing mounting questions about whether it actually cuts climate pollution.
The doubts focus on the global “voluntary” carbon market, where climate-related projects raise money by selling polluters “credits” for each metric ton of carbon emissions a project is projected to eliminate. Businesses use the credits to meet net-zero carbon targets and to address shareholder concerns and avert potential regulation.
With no government regulation, the market is facing increasing concerns that the projects it funds are doing little for planetary climate change.
