Unite Hospitality has accused BrewDog of having “no morals” following a change to its carbon neutral policy.
The worldwide brewery empire – which started life in the north-east – has come under fire after announcing its intention to “exit the carbon credit market” which will effectively end its carbon negative status.
The scheme funds third parties to undertake projects such as forestry management, tree planting and mangrove restoration, and are purchased by companies all over the world to cancel out their carbon footprint.
But BrewDog has announced they will no longer purchase the credits as they say the market has “become unsustainable.”
The announcement was made in the company’s Mini MEGA document – the company’s sustainability report – published earlier today.
It means the company can no longer claim that it is carbon neutral on beer cans and other products.
BrewDog accused of having ‘no morals’
Workers union – Unite Hospitality – has accused the Aberdeenshire company of going back on its word.
An X post, published today, read: “The CEO of BrewDog has just emailed all workers confirming that the company are ‘exiting the carbon credit market’ meaning that their status as a carbon negative company will ‘lapse’.
“From the real living wage to the environment, this company has no morals.”
Bryan Simpson, lead organiser at Unite Hospitality, also added: “This is yet another failed promise from a company that seems to pride itself on abandoning any and all moral commitments to workers and the planet.
“Whether it be on refusing to meet workers over the abandonment of the real living wage or claiming to be the first carbon negative brewery in the country, BrewDog appear to have given up on being the ethical business that their whole brand is built on.”
Unite criticised the company back in January for pulling out of the Living Wage Employer scheme.
Why is BrewDog changing its carbon neutral policy?
In the sustainability report, BrewDog bosses outline the reasons why the company is no longer purchasing the credits.
They claim that purchasing them has become “unsustainable” and that some schemes now have “highly questionable” carbon benefit.
They also vow to “double down” on their own sustainability efforts and further invest in their ‘Lost Forest’ scheme which aims to grow over 250,000 trees in the Cairngorms.
The report explains: “Unfortunately, over the past few years the carbon market has become, well, unsustainable.
“The market has grown exponentially as companies and governments look to offset their emissions.
“As a consequence, there has been a flood of low-quality schemes that are dirt cheap but where the carbon benefit is highly questionable, and maybe even non-existent.
“At the same time, the number of high-quality, properly verified schemes has dwindled and the costs have gone through the roof.
“In fact, the cost is now so astronomical that the only way for BrewDog to sustain a carbon negative claim is at the expense of our own sustainability initiatives.
“We absolutely will not invest in low-quality schemes.”
The report adds that the business will “not press pause on our efforts to reduce emissions”.
It concludes: “Some people will be disappointed that we’ll be relinquishing our carbon negative claim, but the use of funds we’d otherwise spend on carbon offsets is better
invested in facilitating the decarbonisation of our process.”
Conversation