Page 19 - Katten Kattwalk and Kattison Avenue - Winter 2026 - Issue 5
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reasonable consumer expect from the advertiser remains to be seen how effective the new standard
today? At one extreme, could the advertiser emit will be at insulating companies from lawsuits. We
carbon unfettered until 2049, when it suddenly have seen an unfortunate rise in litigation attacks
procures sufficient carbon offsets for the entirety of naming third-party certifiers, which are de rigeur
their emissions? At the other end, should we require for any company wishing to make complicated
advertisers who are making the claim to reduce environmental claims. Fortunately, few of these
carbon emissions or procure offsets on a straight-line lawsuits have been successful, but one still worries
reduction path to 2050? about their chilling effects. Simply put, companies
should be rewarded in the market for honest and
An organization called the Science Based Targets verifiable environmental progress.
Initiative (SBTI) provides the tools and support for
a Net Zero Standard. The current standard requires In a 2023 decision, the National Advertising
that a participant commit, in writing, to a specific Division (NAD) and its appellate body, the National
target, submit the target for validation to SBTI and Advertising Review Board, reviewed the net-zero
then adhere to their communication standards commitments of international food giant JBS, which
going forward. There are third parties that will audit had communicated a “net zero by 2040” claim.
emissions against the stated commitments, including JBS’s promise was backed by a variety of measures,
Carbon Trust and Verra. including engaging SBTI and a third-party auditor to
verify carbon emission reduction, as well as issuing
SBTI has published a new draft standard that tries
to take recent litigation outcomes into account. It $1 billion in Sustainability Bonds to finance research
and actions towards carbon reduction measures.
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