“Drinking for the rainforest” is the colloquial name of the campaign by a large German beer brand, which has been protecting one square meter of rainforest for every crate sold since 2002. The capital stock of the foundation is said to be four million euros today. Sustainable consumption – that was around long before Greta Thunberg and Fridays for Future took to the streets. Many consumers have long felt guilty about their small and large climate sins. This is how a kind of modern selling of indulgences came about – for greenhouse gases.
For example, airlines introduced the option for travelers to offset the CO2 emissions of their flights.
Lufthansa and Co customers can pay a small surcharge to organizations such as Atmosfair, Klima-Kollekte, Primaklima and Myclimate. The money is used to finance, for example, reforestation projects in the rainforest or the use of solar lamps in developing countries.
Compensation means saving as much CO2 as is used elsewhere
CO2 compensation means that exactly the same amount of CO2 is saved elsewhere as the passenger consumes. Most compensation providers support climate projects in the field of renewable energies or to increase energy efficiency in developing countries. For example, efficient stoves, biogas plants, solar lamps – or afforestation.
Planted trees died quickly
Such things were going quite well for various companies until some unpleasant truth came to light: many of the trees planted only lived to see a few summers. Some projects harmed the respective region more than they protected people and nature. A lot of things backfired – and so the tide turned. Companies were suddenly pilloried for wanting to hide their climate-damaging products and services with their compensation offers. It was of little use to explain that some of the projects had a positive effect.
Hard TÜV required for compensation projects
So a kind of TÜV is needed for compensation projects with hard, transparent test criteria. Standards must be established in order to make the black sheep visible and sort them out. This is regulated relatively clearly in the state emissions trading systems. If Germany emits more than it is entitled to, it has to buy tradable certificates. The rules are clear, the calculation transparent, the prices high. It is completely different on the market for voluntary compensation that companies set up for their customers: junk prices often still apply here.
Consumers want to be sure that their carbon money is having an impact
But more and more consumers appreciate honest commitment. The idea of saving CO2 is popular with many people. But they want to be on the safe side that their money really benefits the environment, animals and the people affected. In addition, there was an EU law last week that has significant effects in this regard: Products may no longer be advertised with the word “climate neutral”. The term is simply misleading and not clearly defined. This ends a common practice that irritated millions of customers every day.
On the one hand, companies want to signal to their customers that they are really committed to climate protection or to combating the extinction of species. On the other hand, they are unsure about what else can be communicated without being accused of “greenwashing”. Or to acquire an eco-label whose criteria later turn out to be not so green after all. In addition, there are more and more lawsuits from non-governmental organizations such as the German Environmental Aid and Foodwatch.
The market for CO2 savings is in deep crisis
The market for voluntary CO2 savings is in a real crisis and is currently being reorganized. The blind boom is over, now benefits must be proven. Firstly, it is about the quality of the compensation, i.e. how much greenhouse gas is actually saved by the measures. And does that tally with the money the organizations get? Financial transparency is therefore the second block.
The players in the financial industry play an important role in all of this. They give the projects start-up help until the money flows from the companies and their customers. “Financial actors are becoming increasingly involved in the implementation phase of carbon projects by providing capital and risk hedging tools to protect developers,” states the latest World Bank carbon pricing report. According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), 154 billion dollars were invested in nature-based solutions last year.
But that’s not enough, and for more to come, consumers need security. The Stiftung Warentest takes on the main providers of flight compensation, which helps in this segment. Young German companies are also helping to clear the jungle of tens of thousands of projects. The start-up Ceezer from Berlin has recorded 6000 projects in a database and evaluated them according to the most relevant criteria. The platform sorted millions of data points as to which projects met which criteria. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s a good start. With an AI solution, the start-up Callirius supports investors in finding suitable projects and avoiding greenwashing. The market isn’t perfect, but things are moving forward.
Bahn is the country’s largest pantograph
An eternally young discussion revolves around the actual sustainability of Deutsche Bahn, which now paints its ICE green and gives customers the feeling of traveling CO2-neutrally. Quite apart from the fact that track beds, rails and trains did not fall from the sky, but their construction devoured resources: by no means all trains are operated with “green electricity” from renewable energies. Experts believe that the claim that all long-distance trains run on electricity from renewable sources is theoretical. The cable above the track can’t know whether a regional express or an ICE is passing by. In reality, long-distance transport is just as dirty or dirty as local transport.
Overall, the group covers two thirds of its electricity requirements from renewable energies. Still, one could say. For comparison: in Germany as a whole it is currently 46 percent. On the other hand, Deutsche Bahn, as one of the largest electricity consumers in the country, also gets a lot more electricity from renewable energies. Critics accuse her of having to generate much more renewable energy herself. At least she wants it Deutsche Bahn ” become carbon neutral by 2040 “, which does not mean that the controversial term is completely out of the world.