Cindy Carr, cindy.carr@sierraclub.org, +14129998223 (WhatsApp)
SHARM EL-SHEIKH -- Today on Finance Day at COP27, Secretary John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, announced a new US carbon credit initiative -- the Energy Transition Accelerator -- to encourage private companies to help finance the transition of developing countries from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy. The program would tap the voluntary carbon markets that companies use to meet their Net Zero pledges to supplement the public finance from governments and public banks, with the goal to be up and running by COP28.
In response, Cherelle Blazer, Sierra Club International Climate and Policy Campaign Director, released the following statement:
“While creative and innovative solutions to the biggest crisis of our time are always welcome, carbon markets have, at best, a fraught record of delivering real carbon reductions, and there are a number of ways that this program could go wrong. It remains to be seen whether the Energy Transition Accelerator can generate the money needed to decarbonize at the scale science demands and if it actually supplements existing commitments or allows corporations to avoid decarbonizing their own operations and supply chains.”
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The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.