‘Carbon neutral’ and ‘net-zero’ claims face global crackdown on greenwashing

Adria Vasil

When a problem is likely to be resolved at some point in the future with no lasting harm, they say it will all come out in the wash. Back in 1986, an ecologist on a research trip to Fiji reportedly coined the term “greenwashing” in an essay critiquing a beachfront resort’s towel reuse policy. Four decades later, greenwashed marketing claims, did not, it turns out, come out in the wash. They’ve permeated nearly every product category, from “carbon neutral” burgers and disposable cola bottles made with “plastic from the sea” to net-zero oil companies and ESG labels slapped on trillions of dollars in poorly regulated investment funds. But the Wild West era may be coming to an end. As The Atlantic put it in March, “The world is finally cracking…

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Corporate Knights (Digital) - 1 Issue, Summer 2023

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