Knowledge nugget of the day: Greenwashing

Key Takeaways:

1. Greenwashing refers to the increasing inclination of companies, organisations, oregon adjacent countries to marque dubious oregon unverifiable claims astir their activities, products, oregon services being environment-friendly oregon climate-friendly. Due to heightened sensitivity to clime change, determination is rising unit connected corporations and governments to transportation retired their activities successful a mode that causes the slightest harm to the environment.

2. Greenwashing presents a mendacious representation of the advancement being made connected the clime alteration front, thereby pushing the satellite towards disaster, portion astatine the aforesaid clip rewarding entities for irresponsible behaviour.

3. The 2015 Volkswagen scandal, successful which the German car institution was recovered to person been cheating successful emissions investigating of its supposedly greenish diesel vehicles, is 1 of the headline-grabbing examples of greenwashing. Several different large corporations, including Shell, BP, and Coca Cola person faced accusations of greenwashing.

4. Countries too, are sometimes accused of greenwashing, for example, erstwhile they exaggerate their forests’ imaginable to sorb c dioxide and the interaction of a caller regularisation connected c emissions. Carbon trading mechanisms, an different morganatic exercise, often travel nether scrutiny due to the fact that the processes followed successful the procreation of credits for commercialized mightiness not beryllium scientifically robust.

5. The processes and products that tin perchance chopped emissions are truthful galore that it is practically intolerable to show and verify all. There is simply a deficiency of regularisation and standardisation successful astir of these spaces. The processes, methodologies, and institutions to measure, report, make standards, verify claims and assistance certifications are inactive being acceptable up.

Guidelines connected preventing greenwashing

* Use of misleading words, symbols, oregon imagery, emphasizing affirmative biology attributes portion downplaying oregon concealing antagonistic aspects would represent greenwashing.

* If a company, for example, makes the connection that its maturation is based connected “sustainable principles”, it would not beryllium treated arsenic a misleading biology assertion for the purposes of these guidelines. However, if the institution claims that each its products are manufactured sustainably, past it volition beryllium examined for greenwashing.

* The Generic presumption similar “clean”, “green”, “eco-friendly”, “good for the planet”, “cruelty-free”,  “carbon neutral”, “natural”, “organic”, “sustainable”, oregon akin different descriptions for a merchandise would beryllium allowed lone if the institution is capable to substantiate these with evidence. The institution volition besides person to usage “adequate and accurate” qualifiers and disclosures portion advertizing specified descriptions.

* When much method presumption specified arsenic “environment interaction assessment”, “greenhouse state emissions”, oregon “ecological footprint”, are utilized to advertise a merchandise oregon service, the companies would beryllium mandated to explicate their meaning and implications successful a “consumer-friendly” language.

* The guidelines volition use to each biology claims made by manufacturers, work providers, oregon traders whose goods, products, oregon services are the taxable of an advertisement, oregon to an advertizing bureau oregon endorser whose work is availed for the advertisement of specified goods, products, oregon services.

Types of Greenwashing

📍Greenhushing: When a institution oregon firms underreport oregon withhold accusation astir their sustainability goals and progress.

📍Green-crowding: It involves hiding successful a radical oregon assemblage to debar their unsustainable practices to beryllium spotted.

📍Greenshifting: It is an enactment of the institution to displacement the work of adopting sustainable measures connected consumers oregon individuals alternatively than having to instrumentality meaningful enactment astatine the firm oregon marque level.

📍Greenlighting: It occurs erstwhile a institution spotlights a circumstantial sustainability inaugural undertaken by it to distract attraction distant from damaging activities.

📍Greenlabelling: It is simply a selling maneuver adopted by companies to statement their products thing greenish oregon sustainable, but person introspection reveals this to beryllium misleading.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: Carbon Credit 

1. The trade-in c credits travel nether the scanner successful immoderate treatment connected greenwashing. Carbon commercialized is simply a morganatic exercise. The c markets were acceptable up nether the Kyoto Protocol which had prescribed emanation simplification targets for a radical of developed countries.

2. For example, an concern portion that outperforms the emanation standards stands to summation credits. Another portion that is struggling to attain the prescribed standards tin bargain these credits and amusement compliance with these standards. The portion that did amended connected the standards earns wealth by selling credits, portion the buying portion is capable to fulfill its operating obligations.

3. One tradable c recognition is adjacent to 1 tonne of c dioxide oregon the equivalent magnitude of a antithetic greenhouse state reduced, sequestered, oregon avoided. Once a recognition is utilized to reduce, sequester, oregon debar emissions, it becomes an offset and tin nary longer beryllium tradable.

(Source: Greenwashing guidelines, Red flags implicit ‘greenwashing’, Carbon markets)

For your queries and suggestions constitute astatine khushboo.kumari@indianexpress.com

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