Full Disclosure Should Be Required for Carbon Offsets
December 29, 2007
Posted by Kevin Tuerff
President and Principal
EnviroMedia Social Marketing
With so much focus on global climate change, many companies and nonprofit organizations have rushed to "do something" to demonstrate their environmental commitment. Perhaps the fastest growing example is the sale of carbon offsets. This environmental "sin tax" allows the buyer to donate money to a company or nonprofit who will, in turn, use the funds to plant trees or invest in renewable energy projects.
My biggest concern is there is no required third-party certification that funds are truly being used to offset carbon emissions. In fact, any individual, company or nonprofit can claim to sell carbon offsets, and the customer must trust that their funds are truly being used for that purpose.
I recently went online to a popular search engine, entered the words "carbon offset," and 10 Web sites appeared as sponsored links. At least one nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving rainforests was paying for this advertising. After visiting their Web site, there was an unclear description of what offsets were being provided versus a straight donation to the organization. There was no discussion of any third-party verification that the online donation would definitely offset a certain number of tons of carbon emissions.
EnviroMedia Social Marketing encourages the FTC to adopt new enforceable guidelines for environmental marketing. Enforcement of the existing FTC guidelines on green marketing seems almost non-existent. This needs to change, and the FTC's January 8 public workshop examining carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates is a great first step.
As an advertising agency, we have first-hand knowledge of how stringent it can be to develop ads for regulated industries like utilities and insurance programs. Each one has specific disclaimers and other requirements. However, when companies and their advertising agencies are clear about the law, there is less confusion, and more consumer protection. Requiring full disclosure from companies providing carbon offsets should be the foundation for FTC guidelines related to this area of green marketing claims.
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