‍CARBON CREDITS GET A MAKEOVER: EU Influence appreciates a good hustle, and it’s hard not to be impressed by the comeback that carbon offsets have made in Brussels. Whether it’s the bloc’s much-anticipated 2040 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target, or the EU’s upcoming rules to fight corporate greenwashing, compensating for one’s pollution by financing green projects elsewhere is back in style.

Compliments to the chef: And who could be responsible for a renewed interest in a scheme that gives flexibility to companies when it comes to reaching EU green goals (if not the companies themselves)? Perhaps the industry groups and consultancies working to sell that scheme. Carbon credit companies for one, have been intensifying their presence in Brussels to protect the sector from overzealous green rule-making.

Specifically, they want to make sure the Green Claims Directive — which will require companies to provide specific evidence to back up the claims about their green-ness — doesn’t restrict the use of carbon credits.

Who is in town: Take the Business Alliance for Climate Action (BACA) for example, “a coalition which is working to support voluntary carbon market policies” per the EU’s Transparency Register. BACA’s founders and members include U.S. and Asian carbon credit companies like Anew Climate, Rubicon Carbon, and South Pole. “We began talking with folks in the EU, in Brussels, I would say last spring” said Jennifer Jenkins, Chief Science Officer at Rubicon Carbon, “when the Green Claims Directive was in flight.”

Down to the wire: EU institutions are expected to finalize a deal on the new rules by the end of the month.“We’re pushing to sort of finish the file and close it out,” says Jenkins. But BACA also wants a policy that “provides an incentive for companies to get involved rather than a disincentive,” she said.

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