Science-Based Targets, Greenwashing and Brownscraping: Net Zero in the Private Sector

Gresham College

January 14

Many companies are now required to have a “Science-based Target” for their emissions, but how do we stop these from becoming greenwashing exercises or, worse, incentives for “brownscraping” – concentrating polluting assets to hide them from environmental scrutiny? Instead of decarbonising companies and their financial portfolios, this lecture discusses the need to decarbonise products and services themselves. A company must be able to explain how they plan to stop what they sell from causing global warming – the rest is details.