Study: In most cases entities behind Renewable Energy Certificates are not doing much for the climate

A small team of researchers at Concordia University, working with a colleague at the University of Edinburgh Business School, reports that many companies’ environmental claims are exaggerated due to their reliance on the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) that do not represent as much mitigation as they claim. In their paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the researchers describe their study of publicly available corporate documents from 115 large companies. The same team has also published a Policy Brief in the same journal issue outlining recommended changes to rules governing emissions by corporations and other large entities.