U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry unveiled the Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA)-a carbon offset plan that would allow corporations to fund renewable energy projects in developing countries that are struggling to transition away from fossil fuels.
Key points
- It has been launched in partnership with philanthropic groups like the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund at COP27.
- The plan will create a new class of carbon offsets that represent investments in projects that help accelerate renewable energy projects or build climate change resilience in a developing country.
- Businesses can buy these offsets to balance out some portion of their CO2 emissions, and the money will go to these projects.
- The goal of the partnership is to establish a high-integrity framework enabling developing countries to attract finance to support their clean energy transitions.
- In order to buy these credits under the new program, companies must commit to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and report annually on emissions as well as progress toward the target, according to a draft of the plan.
- Fossil fuel companies are also not allowed to participate in the program.
- Several environmental groups are not impressed with the plan, arguing the proposal lacked details and could ultimately undermine efforts to reduce global emissions.
- They say that the proposal fails to meet the urgency of the climate crisis and is not a substitute for the public finance that developing countries require to shift away from fossil fuels.
- They also argue that a voluntary carbon credit program won’t guarantee deep, real cuts in emissions.
