ASSESSING THE CARBON NEUTRALITY CLAIMS OF PRODUCTS IN BELGIAN SUPERMARKETS

The report finds that all 15 assessed products in Belgian supermarkets make misleading carbon neutrality claims because they rely on carbon credits that do not provide climate benefits equivalent to the emissions generated. The analysis highlights systemic issues with carbon offsets, including a lack of additionality in renewable energy projects and a lack of permanence in forest-based sinks. Furthermore, the report notes a lack of transparency in company-level climate strategies and a conflict of interest within the third-party certification industry.

• All 15 products assessed were found to have misleading carbon neutrality claims because the carbon credits used to offset emissions do not deliver climate benefits equivalent to the damages caused by the products.
• Carbon credits from renewable energy projects are often not 'additional', meaning the emission reductions would likely have occurred regardless of the credit sales due to the projects' inherent profitability.
• Forest-based carbon offsets are considered inappropriate for compensating fossil fuel emissions because carbon stored in natural ecosystems is temporary, whereas CO2 from fossil fuels remains in the atmosphere for centuries or millennia.
• There is a significant lack of transparency and standardization in how companies communicate climate actions, making it difficult for consumers to distinguish between genuine emission reductions and greenwashing.
• Third-party certifiers often face conflicts of interest because some both advise companies on climate strategies and sell them the carbon credits needed to maintain 'neutrality' labels.
• Companies frequently use 'intensity-based' reductions (reductions per unit of production) while presenting them as absolute reductions, which can mislead consumers if total emissions are still increasing due to growth.

APA

Dufrasne, G., Otis, L., & Fuchs, J. (2023). ASSESSING THE CARBON NEUTRALITY CLAIMS OF PRODUCTS IN BELGIAN SUPERMARKETS. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Assessing-the-carbon-neutrality-claims-of-products-in-Belgian-supermarkets-1.pdf

Chicago

Dufrasne, Gilles, Lindsay Otis, and Jonas Fuchs. ASSESSING THE CARBON NEUTRALITY CLAIMS OF PRODUCTS IN BELGIAN SUPERMARKETS. Carbon Market Watch, 2023. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Assessing-the-carbon-neutrality-claims-of-products-in-Belgian-supermarkets-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dufrasne |first1=Gilles |last2=Otis |first2=Lindsay |last3=Fuchs |first3=Jonas |title=ASSESSING THE CARBON NEUTRALITY CLAIMS OF PRODUCTS IN BELGIAN SUPERMARKETS |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=April 2023 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Assessing-the-carbon-neutrality-claims-of-products-in-Belgian-supermarkets-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dufrasne2023assessing, author = {Dufrasne, Gilles and Otis, Lindsay and Fuchs, Jonas}, title = {{ASSESSING THE CARBON NEUTRALITY CLAIMS OF PRODUCTS IN BELGIAN SUPERMARKETS}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Assessing-the-carbon-neutrality-claims-of-products-in-Belgian-supermarkets-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }