“Bloomberg: BlackRock’s GIP Joins Exxon in Backing New CO2 Accounting Model”

“Bloomberg: BlackRock’s GIP Joins Exxon in Backing New CO2 Accounting Model

A group of firms including BlackRock Inc.’s Global Infrastructure Partners, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Banco Santander SA have joined forces to push for a new way to measure the carbon emissions of the products they make, buy and finance.

The coalition, which also lists chemicals giant BASF SE and consultancy EY as backers, will develop a framework that eliminates double-counting of carbon pollution and attributes emissions to their sources, according to Amy Brachio, the chief executive of the newly formed group, Carbon Measures. Brachio, who used to be global vice chair for sustainability at EY, said a separate goal is to design new standards to measure the carbon intensity of specific products.

The initiative feeds into an area of climate finance that is frequently controversial but set to become more consequential, as regulations such as Europe’s carbon border adjustment mechanism kick in. That’s raising pressure on companies and their investors to address their carbon footprints.

The Carbon Measures initiative represents a meaningful departure from existing standards, which were developed in the late 1990s. Critics of the current system say it allows multiple actors to count the same CO2 molecules, leading to inaccurate estimates of overall emissions. Proponents counter that the issue of double counting is a feature rather than a glitch, because it raises the likelihood that multiple actors will reduce their emissions.”