Earlier this month, California enacted the Voluntary Carbon Market
Disclosures Act, which requires advertisers to include specific
disclosures on their websites when making certain types of
environmental claims.
"Consumers deserve to feel confident that carbon offsets
are actually resulting in meaningful emissions reductions,"
explained the author of the law, California Assemblymember Jess
Gabriel, in a statement issued
earlier this summer. "This legislation will provide critical
transparency and accountability to ensure that corporations are
meeting their climate goals and that we are protecting our planet
for future generations."
What does the law require?
If an advertiser makes "net zero" or "carbon
neutral" claims, or any other claims suggesting that the
advertiser and its products don't add carbon dioxide or other
greenhouse gasses to the environment or that the advertiser has
significantly reduced its greenhouse gas emissions, the advertiser
must disclose
