Proctor & Gamble (P&G) has set its sights on achieving 'carbon neutrality' by 2030 by investing in tree planting and other nature-based iniatives in a bid to help offset 30 million metric tonnes of CO2 over the coming decade.

The consumer goods giant - which counts brands such as Always, Gilette, Head & Shoulders, Crest, and Oral-B in its stable - said that while its priority remained to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from 2010 levels, it now also planned to invest in "natural climate solutions" would allow it to offset the remained of its CO2 to achieve carbon neutrality.

The company also said that it would continue to pursue new wind, solar and geothermal projects in order to meeting its goal of procuring all its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, up from around 70 per cent today. 

Announcing the new carbon neutrality goal last Thursday, David Taylor - P&G's chairman, president and CEO - said that as climate change was already happening "action is needed now".

"By reducing our carbon footprint and investing in natural climate solutions, we will be carbon neutral for the decade across our operations and help protect vulnerable ecosystems and communities around the world," he said.

P&G said it was working with green groups Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to identify nature-based carbon sequestration projects to invest in, explaining that it had developed a global portfolio covering mangrove protection in the Philippines, reforestation in Brazil and tree planting in Northern California and Germany.

However, the P&G's heavy focus on offsetting for its 2030 net zero goal incurred criticism from other environmental groups, with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) giving a particularly scathing review of the commitment. "The only real difference between the company's existing commitment to reduce their emissions from their operations by 50 per cent by 2030 and their new announcement of 'carbon neutrality by 2030' is an infusion of money to avoid full responsibility," wrote NRDC's boreal corporate campaign manager Shelley Vinyard in a blog post last week which referenced the firm's tissue brands such as Charmin, Bounty and Puffs. "P&G is now promising to invest in protecting carbon sinks as a way to offset the rest of their operations emissions by 2030, while continuing to use climate-critical boreal forest fiber for its throwaway tissue."

P&G has also previously come under fire from the green group for its decision to exclude the indirect Scope 3 emissions that make up the overwhelming majority of its emissions footprint from its carbon accounting. The NRDC estimates that indirect emissions comprise 98 per cent of the consumer goods giant's carbon output.

As part of its new green efforts announced last week, P&G has committed to "better understand" the emissions produced by its supply chain and consumer use of its products, although it did not include any explicit target for cutting these indirect emissions.

P&G's is the latest in a wave of recent climate commitments unveiled by consumer goods brands. Kimberly-Clark recently commited to reduce its Scope 3 emissions by 20 per cent by 2030 and has committed to slash its carbon, forest, and water footprint, as well as its use of virgin fossil fuel based plastics by 50 per cent within 10 years. In June, Unilever said that it would target net zero emissions across all its products - including Scope 3 emissions - by 2039.