{"id":63197,"date":"2024-01-31T21:18:51","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T02:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=63197"},"modified":"2024-01-31T21:18:54","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T02:18:54","slug":"we-called-out-shells-false-claims-on-carbon-offsets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/63197\/we-called-out-shells-false-claims-on-carbon-offsets\/","title":{"rendered":"We called out Shell\u2019s false claims on carbon offsets\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2020, Shell Canada made a promise it couldn\u2019t keep.<\/p>\n\n

Shell\u2019s \u201cDrive Carbon Neutral\u201d program touted that Canadians could reduce their carbon footprints by buying carbon offsets for a few extra cents at the pump.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

When the Greenpeace Canada team saw these ads, we immediately knew something was up.<\/p>\n\n

For starters, Shell\u2019s program was focused on forest-based offsets \u2014 but planting trees can\u2019t compensate for ongoing fossil fuel emissions.<\/strong> Hotter, dryer weather is causing forest offsets to literally go up in smoke. Logging and other industrial disturbances in the Canadian boreal are also undermining the forest\u2019s ability to absorb and store carbon.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace Canada\u2019s nature campaign team decided to file a complaint<\/a> to the Competition Bureau for false advertising. We argued that Shell\u2019s campaign was misleading, and cited the company\u2019s inability to prove its program could actually offset fossil fuel emissions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

In December 2023, the Competition Bureau confirmed it had started an investigation into Shell\u2019s advertising. Then we noticed Shell had removed any and all mention of its “Drive Carbon Neutral” program from its Canadian website and app.<\/strong> POOF! Gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

After some pressing, Shell confirmed it retired the “Drive Carbon Neutral” program in Canada in November 2023. But Shell has yet to respond to our calls for transparency, issue an official retraction or apology, and continues to run these misleading ads in other countries.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cPeople deserve to have accurate information about what’s really causing the climate crisis and what’s going to solve it,\u201d <\/strong>said Shane Moffatt, Head of Nature and Food Campaign at Greenpeace Canada. \u201cThey don’t deserve to be duped by corporations like Shell with these slick marketing campaigns into thinking a few trees can offset massive fossil fuel emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Beyond its advertising campaign, Shell Canada is still actively promoting false climate solutions like carbon offsetting to the federal government<\/strong>. That\u2019s why Greenpeace Canada will keep urging the federal government to ditch offsets and instead focus on actual emission reductions and biodiversity protection. <\/p>\n\n

Because of your support, which keeps us independent of corporate or government funding, we are guided by science so we can promote meaningful responses to the climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n

This win wouldn\u2019t have been possible without you, and it\u2019s not the only this victory you contributed to. <\/strong>Your support directly impacts our environmental work all around the world. Below you’ll find a snapshot of a few other recent global campaign victories!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2020, Shell Canada made a promise it couldn\u2019t keep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":63198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"We called out Shell\u2019s false claims on carbon offsets\u00a0","p4_og_description":"In 2020, Shell Canada offered Canadians a false solution: to drive carbon neutral by purchasing carbon offsets. Greenpeace Canada filed a complaint to the Competition Bureau for false advertising, and Shell has removed all trace its carbon offset program. It's a victory, but we want a public apology for Canadians, and for Shell to stop touting false solutions. ","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"Climate and Justice","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"Oil","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[23,156,160],"p4-page-type":[16],"class_list":["post-63197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","category-nature","tag-climate","tag-biodiversity","tag-fossil-fuels","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63197"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63207,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63197\/revisions\/63207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63197"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=63197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}