LONDON, April 10 (Reuters) - Staff at the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) on Wednesday called for the ouster of the global nonprofit's chief executive and the reversal of a plan to allow companies to use carbon credits to offset greenhouse gas emissions from their value chain.
The staff accused SBTi's leadership of acting without a sound scientific basis, throwing the group - whose role as the leading arbiter of how companies set climate targets exerts heavy influence over much of the corporate world - into turmoil.'
In a letter to the SBTi's board of trustees and CEO seen by Reuters, the staff criticised a decision made a day earlier to allow the use of offsets for so-called Scope 3 emissions, subject to undefined "guardrails and thresholds."
Selling credits from wind farms and other activities to a company so it can offset pollution is seen as a way to help move money to climate-friendly projects. Some critics worry this could let companies off the hook when it comes to reducing emissions, and the SBTi had previously rejected the use of such offsets.
"As staff representing SBTi on a daily basis, we demand immediate action to mitigate the grave reputational damage caused by the actions of the Board," the letter said.
Beyond the CEO's resignation, the letter also called for board members who supported the policy shift on offsets to resign. It also asked for a withdrawal of the new policy.
Signed by staff from "the Target Validation Team, Target Operations Team, the Technical Department, Communications, Impact and IT, and multiple department heads", the group said it stood ready to take "further action," without elaborating.
