E.ON lambasts study questioning its climate credentials

E.ON objects to a study arguing the German utility and many other large companies fall short of their net-zero carbon promises, news website Focus Online reported. The Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor, conducted by NewClimate Institute in collaboration with Carbon Market Watch, assessed 25 major companies’ climate claims and found they only reduced their emissions by an average of 40 percent, in contrast to their “net zero” or “carbon neutral” claims. The study "does not correspond methodically to the internationally valid standard," said E.ON spokesman Christian Drepper. The company was criticised in the report for ignoring 90 percent of its emissions. "This leads to completely different results, which are misleading from our point of view," Drepper said, questioning the researchers’ method of counting all emissions in a company’s supply chain towards its overall figure.

The study, which also included German carmakers BMW and Volkswagen, was particularly critical of offsetting schemes such as planting trees in the Amazon to compensate for burning oil. The study warned these emission reductions can easily be reversed, for example by forest fires which release CO2 into the atmosphere.