The carbon neutral controversy has left food companies with some difficult choices, says David Burrows.
Footprint last month reported how pressure is growing on businesses to focus on emissions reductions rather than offsets. Fast food chain Leon, we discovered, had already started phasing out its marketing for carbon neutral burgers. And from what we hear, more foodservice companies appear ready to creep away from the carbon neutral claims they are making.
Mike Hanson, director of sustainable business at WSH suggests carbon neutral may have “run its course”. “We were early adopters [of carbon neutral], and we should be proud of our position, but we have now recognised that the world has changed and we must focus on activity to reduce and remove carbon in our own business and client operations,” he says.
Others, including Nestlé, are currently sticking by carbon neutral for now. Most are trying to determine what to do. Sodexo UK&I sums up where most are at this stage: it is “reviewing” its carbon neutral target “in light of the challenges posed by the carbon offset market around validity, permanence and whether it feels the right approach”.
Regulators are certainly keen to clamp down on confusing claims like carbon neutral and net-zero, which also lack clear definitions. According to the Hospitality Sector Council carbon neutral is sometimes used interchangeably with terms like net-zero but there are often subtle differences. For example, carbon neutrality is most often achieved through carbon offsetting and is “specifically limited to carbon dioxide”.
It’s worth pointing out that such claims are not being banned outright – either here in the UK or across Europe. What regulators want to see is clear claims but they are not yet sure what one looks like. “Consumers told us that they think that such terms and schemes should be defined and agreed, but this is a matter for legislation, not something that the ASA can achieve by itself,” says the Advertising Standards Authority, which has made “no decisions” on the forms of evidence, including offset schemes, that are more or less likely to be considered as acceptable evidence to substantiate such claims.
At EU level, meanwhile, work is underway to finalise the green claims directive. Dubious claims are in the firing line but again it’s not a blanket ban, as environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius has been at pains to explain. “The only thing is that the consumers must be fully informed. If you’re stating that the product you are selling is carbon neutral, and it’s carbon offset, additional information is needed to specify its carbon offset,” he said in March.
The fact that discussions on just how to regulate all this are still underway has left businesses in a predicament. Knee-jerk reactions are risky – as many companies who committed to net-zero, and in turn a 50% emissions reduction by 2030, now realise. Well thought, robust and science-based targets, reported openly and honestly, will put companies ahead of the competition. As those gathered for the launch of the Tortoise better food index heard recently, data and disclosure are key, and they must be used as levers for change rather than leverage to do very little.
Oh so quiet
It’s no surprise that Leon decided not publicise its “phasing out” of carbon neutral messaging across its channels. Moving away from offsetting brings inevitable questions regarding the credibility of the carbon credits that were being used in the first place. Food companies should prepare for scrutiny either way.
Indeed, this is perhaps part of the bigger trend termed ‘greenhushing’. Green claims, green commitments, green plans and green targets are all under the spotlight like never before, which has led to shyness in talking about sustainability. It’s a worrying trend because we still want good businesses doing good things to get more recognition (and custom) than the laggards.
To me it’s more evidence that for too long marketing has held sway over sustainability. Marketers are certainly under the microscope (as should be PR departments). Ben Essen, global chief strategy officer at the global marketing agency Iris Worldwide, which works with firms including Starbucks, told The Guardian in May of an “inherent tension” between the need to engage audiences through “often hyperbolic stories” and the need for sustainability teams to deal in the substance.
Ad agencies seem to be saying the era of greenwashing is over. Even if that is the case, companies are not off the hook. Those climate commitments already in the public domain, with target deadlines looming, will be picked over. Food businesses thinking they can hide their sustainability in the shadows are in for a surprise, because like it or not this is the era of transparency.
