Guidance on the use of carbon credits by private companies published today by the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative (VCMI) is a step in the right direction to rein in greenwashing. The proposed set of rules forms a welcome basis to move the conversation forward but more attention should be given to how companies can contribute to climate action outside of carbon markets.
he European Parliament has demonstrated a strong commitment to both consumer protection and the climate when it voted in favour of a ban on companies making “carbon neutral” claims. The Council of the European Union and the European Commission must support such a prohibition during the ongoing legislative process to review EU consumer protection rules.
Although the European Commission understands the problems created by greenwashing, its proposed Green Claims Directive will not end these damaging practices.
Major corporations are making disingenuous ‘net zero’ and ‘carbon neutral’ claims based on dubious emissions offsetting practices rather than actual cuts. This cannot continue.
Carbon removals are not meant as a tool for corporate greenwashing or climate inaction. They should only be used to reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Despite claiming to be champions of climate action, two dozen of the world’s largest and richest corporations are hiding their climate inaction behind the fig leaf of green-sounding ‘net zero’ plans, concludes the 2023 edition of the Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor. For that reason, governments must stop their dithering and regulate robustly what green claims companies are permitted to make.
As the climate crisis intensifies, EU legislators are working on updating the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) and the Consumer Rights Directive (CRD) to better protect consumers against common greenwashing practices and equip them for a green economy. However, the current proposal – “Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition” – will not effectively end greenwashing. …
The Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor evaluates the transparency and integrity of companies’ climate pledges.
Regulators must act to protect people from false corporate green claims and to ensure that only true climate leaders are able to claim that mantle. If this is not appropriately addressed, people will continue to be misled by false climate claims and they will effectively be denied the opportunity to decarbonise their consumption and/or investment and play their part in limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Thus, it is imperative that policymakers, both at the EU and global levels, urgently act to remedy this pervasive problem of greenwashing.
This document sets out a series of recommendations to combat corporate greenwashing.
The proliferation of dubious green claims by companies has sparked renewed concern about the lack of adequate regulation to prevent greenwashing and the low compliance with existing rules. Regulators are starting to revise outdated provisions, while NGOs are suing companies over misleading advertisements. The European Commission published yesterday (30 March 2022) a new proposal to …
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