What exactly does the new Gold Standard document say about corporate responsibility? 

In May 2023, Gold Standard published a report of “considerations for credible claims”. In this document, they announced a new “paradigm” of “responsibly contributing, at a fair scale, to global Net Zero efforts and beyond.” (3) 

The new document outlines best practices for making claims about a company’s environmental commitments. The claims should be measured, transparent, and verifiable, and all varieties of greenwashing should be avoided. The report gives detailed advice on the wording, and how to avoid confusing or misleading consumers. 

Perhaps most importantly, the document outlines the necessary components of a robust climate mitigation strategy:

1) Organisational Net Zero status, through value chain abatement (both in the near and long term).

2) Taking responsibility for historical and ongoing emissions, by financing further climate action. This could include mitigation funds, voluntary carbon markets, or investment in research and development, or advocacy campaigns.

3) Non-target related strategies, such as:  

• Cessation of any lobbying against positive climate regulation or policy,
• Divestment from fossil fuel assets,
• Zero deforestation and land conversion in value chains. (4)

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What has changed?  

Legally and financially, nothing has changed overnight for your company with the publication of this document. Gold Standard is a foundation that, among other things, advocates for best practice, and the document only provides discussion, ideas, and ‘how to’ considerations. (5) 

However, the document nonetheless marks a significant step in the progression of corporate sustainability. The new paradigm is crucial to raising the standard, since it increases the expectation of what corporations are expected to take responsibility for. Companies should see the guidance as an opportunity to create broad, diversified, and impactful sustainability strategies.

Of course, Gold Standard specifies “at a fair scale”, meaning that smaller companies are not expected to make the same level of contributions as large, multinational firms. The contribution should be proportionate to the profits a company makes, and to the impact it has on the environment. The principle was referred to on a panel hosted by Gold Standard as “profit per tonne”. (6)

The diagrams below show how the Gold Standard guidelines promote a wide-reaching and comprehensive strategy for companies. As illustrated, sustainability efforts were previously focussed on either offsetting emissions, in order to achieve neutrality or “net-zero”, or on reducing emissions. Now, however, a company’s individual impact is only part of the story. Reducing carbon emissions within a company should be done in conjunction with globally-minded climate action.

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How can companies work towards this new standard for best practice?

Since climate action is a decisive concern for consumers, investors, and employees, it is undoubtedly in a company’s best interest to pursue this new standard of best practice. (7), (8), (9)

The Gold Standard report is clear that companies need a holistic strategy, tackling climate change on all fronts, and looking beyond the simple maths of individual “net zero”. To make a start with this, companies can:

• Cease any lobbying against positive climate regulation, and contribute to advocacy or research campaigns.
• Review their value chains, understand, and then reduce the biggest sources of emissions.
• Invest in high quality carbon removal or reduction, and in other environmental projects. This is part of taking responsibility for emissions that cannot be reduced, and historical emissions that the company has emitted. Supporting charities, or buying contributions or credits through the voluntary carbon markets are some ways to achieve this.   
• Companies should prioritise contribution to environmental projects that bring other co-benefits - for example social benefits such as improved access to sanitation, food, water or education, or protection of wildlife and biodiversity. 
• The amount contributed should be scaled according to both emissions and profits.

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Klim’s offer to help bring your company in line with the new standard 

Klim can help both food and non-food companies invest in meaningful environmental protection that uses nature-based solutions. Through Klim’s digital platform for farmers, we scale regenerative agriculture, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and removing carbon dioxide. Regenerative agriculture protects and restores soil - one of the most important carbon sinks on the planet, as well as delivering a range of co-benefits such as improved food security and biodiversity.

All companies can enhance their sustainability strategy through Klim credits: proof of high quality emission reductions and removals that can be purchased by companies to take responsibility for their unavoidable on-going emissions, or to make a wider contribution to climate action. The credits are verified, and Klim also supports companies with their communication of the benefits to the environment, and the additional co-benefits.

Food companies can work with Klim to reduce their emissions along their supply chain (instead of, or in addition to, buying credits). Klim works directly with farmers to support food companies that want to tackle the biggest source of emissions: their supply chain. 

Therefore, Klim can help companies achieve several steps towards a Gold Standard climate strategy:

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, 
• Create positive co-benefits, such as improved food-security, food-quality, and protecting biodiversity  
• Reduce your supply chain emissions (food companies only).

Working with Klim can be part of a comprehensive, responsible, and respectable sustainability strategy with high quality offsetting, and impactful insetting. Do you want to learn more about Klim credits? Read on here or get more information about insetting here.

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Sources:(1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6),(7), (8), (9)