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Drumroll, please …
The survey results from our Public Input period are in!
This summer, our team sought input to review the Climate Neutral Certified Standard—our certification framework and criteria that companies must meet to earn the Climate Neutral Certified Label.
Since we launched in 2019, this process has entailed gathering technical input from our two expert advisory committees. These folks help us ensure technical rigor and steady alignment with the ever evolving climate movement.
For the first time this year, our fourth annual review cycle, we expanded the review process to include a public input period. Nearly 400 people worldwide thoughtfully responded to our Standard survey.
Ready to see what they thought? Let’s jump in …
It’s no surprise: 80% of people surveyed are extremely concerned about climate change. This concern plays a large role in how people spend their money, and a majority of respondents agreed businesses need to be doing much more and take stronger climate action.
The Climate Neutral Certified label is an integral element of our nonprofit movement. It creates an incentive for companies to create and implement climate initiatives with immediate accountability. It’s also a tool for individuals to vote with their dollars and actively choose products and services from certified companies doing the work.
Surveyed respondents overwhelmingly felt it helps the climate when companies become Climate Neutral Certified.
Most also recognized and trusted the certified label, although this response revealed plenty of work left to be done to earn people’s full trust. More than two-thirds of folks were familiar with Climate Neutral, while one-third ‘very much’ believed in what the certified label represents. Another half ‘somewhat’ trust in it.
There’s no question that people find it valuable when companies talk about their climate initiatives. And the more specifically they communicate, the better.
A whopping 99% of surveyed respondents want to see ‘some detail’ to ‘a lot of detail’ about how a company is taking climate action. And—this one surprised us a little—80% of people want to see specific carbon emissions for products. This feedback presents a new reason for us to go even deeper with the data we provide on brand profile pages.
As mentioned, we update the Climate Neutral Standard every year with the support of two expert advisory committees. Feedback from this public input survey is also being incorporated this year, and it will help shape the requirements for companies undergoing certification in 2024.
We’re currently wrapping up the final stages of this annual review process, and it’s abundantly clear: people want companies to report year-over-year changes in their carbon emissions. Reductions are equally a priority. 85% of respondents believed certified companies should be reporting progress on their reduction initiatives.
Based on the plethora of recent media coverage about forest carbon offset projects, we wanted to check on how this was shaping people’s views. One-third of people seem to have lost confidence in carbon credits from forests. Consistent with this, we continue to look for ways to restrict, through our Standard, the use of the highest-risk forest carbon credits. (Remember, forest carbon offsets are just one type of carbon credit project, though they get most of the attention.)
As we write this blog, our team is putting the finishing touches on revisions to our Climate Neutral Certified Standard. The input from this process has helped us think about ways to strengthen existing requirements, as well as add more reporting and tracking requirements to satisfy data-hungry users of our certified label. We expect that this public survey—launched for the first time this year—will become an integral part of our annual review process as we work to create the most trusted climate action label out there.
The 2024 Climate Neutral Standard will be released in late October. Stay tuned! In the meantime, give us a shout at standards-input@climateneutral.org if you have further thoughts, or hello@climateneutral.org if your organization is seeking to take immediate climate action. We look forward to hearing your story and supporting your climate action journey!
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Bridget brings experience directing climate communications for entrepreneurial and global Fortune 500 brands. She holds an MBA in Marketing and Governance and is passionate about bringing sustainability narratives to life. Bridget lives in her Hawaii hometown. You’ll likely find her at the local bakery or frolicking outdoors with family and her dog Panda.
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At this stage in the game, it’s baffling that such a fundamental question remains unanswered: how - and how much - are companies investing in the climate transition? The proposed Standard will look directly at this question.
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Every corporate sustainability leader who is now laying out a climate plan for 2024 or 2025 will wonder at some point: should I spend money on carbon credits?
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Thousands of people around the world study emission factors full time, and their research improves the data so that we can better understand the impacts. We just finished updating the emission factor library in our measurement tools, an annual process that brings our datasets - tens of thousands of emission factors - up to date with the latest releases and scientific research.
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