Google has stopped bulk purchasing carbon credits to offset its carbon emissions and abandoned the carbon-neutral status it had claimed since 2007. This was reported by the Bloomberg news agency.

Google will now focus on completely reducing its carbon emissions by 2030.

“Beginning in 2023, we will no longer commit to operational carbon neutrality,” Google said in a statement.

Carbon neutral status should be awarded to a company that harmonizes its emissions by using methods that absorb the same amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, most companies that claim carbon neutrality rely on low-cost offsets (where one credit equals a ton of emissions) received from green projects that claim to protect forests, use clean energy or prevent the production of emissions.

In 2022, Google has pledged $200 million to fund the carbon removal market. In 2024, the company entered into contracts for 62,500 tons with three companies - Charm Industrial, Lithos Carbon and CarbonCapture - with execution dates between 2024 and 2028.

The company has also formally joined the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), which monitors corporate climate goals and encourages companies to focus on reducing their emissions and only use offsets for a small proportion of residual emissions.

Google isn't the only company changing its carbon credit strategy. Airline EasyJet and flooring company Interface have stopped purchasing compensation. Both companies also received confirmation of their climate targets from SBTi.

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