24 July 2024 – After severe flooding at the beginning of July, two aluminium mills in Switzerland had to declare force majeure and cease production. Aluminium is already becoming scarce in some industrial sectors. And has the United Nations declared war on CO2 reduction through carbon credits? European steel companies are also relying on the often useless green washing certificates.
After floods: Aluminium in Europe is becoming scarce
Severe flooding in Switzerland hit two aluminium mills at the beginning of July. Production has been halted. According to media reports, the clean-up work has only just begun, as it was necessary to wait for the water to recede and remove layers of mud. How long the large aluminium plants will be out of action is still unknown. According to one company affected, it is likely to be weeks before the damaged technology is operational again.
The outages at the two mills, which also produce flat-rolled aluminium products among other things, are already clearly noticeable in some industrial sectors due to missing parts.
Is the UN taking action against greenwashing with carbon credits?
Companies around the world rely on carbon credits to reduce their CO2 emissions. These have been repeatedly criticised recently as they do not directly reduce CO2 emissions, but only shift them.
Carbon credits contribute almost nothing to CO2 reduction
Just last year, an investigation by the British Guardian came to the conclusion that even the 50 largest climate projects in the world, which have sold the most certificates to date, contribute little to nothing to reducing global CO2 emissions.
Is the United Nations declaring war on carbon credits?
The United Nations, which has long been in favour of carbon credits, now appears to be actively rethinking its position.
A draft by a working group convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, seen by the Financial Times, states that corporations should not use carbon credits to offset emissions outside government-regulated systems.
The UN now argues that companies should invest in ways to reduce their own emissions rather than relying on the multi-million dollar carbon credit trading market.
Is the German steel giant also relying on green washing with carbon credits?
In Germany, ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe recently had its own climate targets confirmed by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The juicy detail here is that the SBTi works closely with providers (including Verra) of carbon credits. The very provider that the Guardian had certified in 2023 as issuing 90% ‘phantom credits’.
Subsidiaries of ThyssenKrupp AG even advertise extensively how CO2 emissions can allegedly be reduced with such carbon credits.
Latest news
- SIMBARA: Indonesia launches nickel and tin online tracking system
- Chinese aluminum production at highest level since 2014
- Von der Leyen re-elected as EU Commission President with ‘business as usual’ approach
We at the Gerber Group have been trading in stainless steel worldwide for over 20 years. We are your experts when it comes to purchasing, import, logistics and services. Information is a vital part of this. Because only then can you and we make the right decisions. Do you have any questions? Contact us now.
Disclaimer: Many things here represent our opinion. Others are information from the Internet. We can therefore never claim to be correct or complete. And never base a business decision solely on the news you receive from us.
