- Fossil fuel companies are also not allowed to participate in the program.
- The Energy Transition Accelerator program is a project in partnership with philanthropic groups.
On Wednesday, U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry, at The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt, also called COP27, unveiled a carbon offset plan to allow corporations to fund renewable energy projects in developing countries struggling to transition from fossil fuels. The Energy Transition Accelerator program is a project in partnership with philanthropic groups like the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund to be finalized over the coming year.
This plan will focus on driving carbon offset investments in projects that help accelerate renewable energy projects or build climate change resilience in developing countries. Also, businesses can buy these offsets to balance out some of their CO2 emissions, and the money will go to these projects. According to the State Department, Chile and Nigeria are among the developing countries interested in the program. In addition, Bank of America, Microsoft, PepsiCo and Standard Chartered Bank have “expressed interest in informing the ETA’s development”.
However, to buy these credits under this new program, companies must commit to achieving 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. According to Rachel Cleetus, the policy director of the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, “Carbon offsets are not an answer in a world already on fire, underwater and facing mounting climate losses and damage”. In addition, 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.