The REP Wrap: Google reveals emissions spike

A French court has ruled that claims by Volvic that its plastic bottles and products are “100% recycled”, “carbon neutral” and “100% recyclable” constitute misleading commercial practices. The court ordered Volvic to publish its decision on the homepage of its website for six months and compensate the National Association for the Defence of Consumers and Users, which brought the case, “for the harm done to the collective interest of consumers”.

The decision comes a week after the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned adverts from Adidas, Uniqlo and Calvin Klein over their claims about “recycled” clothing. “A product should not be described as, for example, ‘recycled’ or ‘organic’ if it contained fibres that were not recycled or organic, unless the proportion of non-recycled or non-organic fibres was negligible,” said ASA in its assessment of the Adidas case. 

Google released its latest environmental report Tuesday, revealing an 18% year-on-year increase in emissions, and an 81% increase compared with its 2019 baseline. “We recognise that our climate impact has been growing alongside the unprecedented growth of AI,” said the tech giant, insisting that its carbon footprint would have been “five times larger” in 2025 if it wasn’t for its existing decarbonisation efforts.  

Gold Standard, Pinwheel and ClimatePartner have teamed up to publish a framework for companies seeking to take responsibility for their ongoing emissions. The document sets out how organisations can establish budgets, portfolios and communication strategies. 

The GHG Protocol has released Land Sector and Removals (LSR) Guidance to help companies comply with its LSR Standard, which takes effect in January 2027. The guidance includes examples, calculation guidance and case studies from companies including Mars, PepsiCo, and General Mills. Two supplemental resources — a reporting template and requirements checklist — have also been published. 

The GHG Protocol has also launched a Request for Information on forest carbon accounting. Open until February 2027, it seeks to “gather proposals on how to best reach a robust and practicable outcome” on the controversial topic. The body said it would also “be exploring complementary approaches to facilitate constructive collaboration and tangible progress, and welcomes stakeholders’ views on how this might be achieved”.