Last week in Scottsdale, Arizona on the GreenBiz22 main stage, Richard Mattison, president of S&P Global Sustainable1, called net zero "the zeitgeist of this generation" and "now a destination, not just an ambition."

Recognizing the imperative The Science Based Targets initiative (STi) released new guidance in October for net zero that is bold and hard — 95 percent decarbonization in Scope 1 and 2, and 90 percent of Scope 3 decarbonization by 2050. "Not either/or but both" is a common line when it comes to solutions for getting to that net-zero state. That we need every strategy, technology and approach to meet the greatest challenge of our — or perhaps any — generation.

Carbon credits have often been one component of the "both" argument. The prevailing argument is that businesses need to establish robust carbon reduction strategies and processes while also engaging in offsetting to account for unavoidable emissions.

"There’s been an emergence of this norm to have science-based targets and really deep emissions reduction targets within your operations and even within your value chain," said Brad Schallert, director carbon market governance and aviation at the World Wildlife Fund during a session at GreenBiz 22. "We tend to think of carbon credits as complementary to strategies, if you’re doing all that work internally."

How is that playing out? The buzz around the conference with sustainability folks in the food sector was about working to spin down their reliance on carbon credits in favor of more operational reductions.

Read the full article about carbon offsetting in the food sector by Jesse Klein at GreenBiz.