What Is Greenwashing?
The United Nations Secretary General has warned private corporations to desist the practice of Greenwashing and mend their ways within a year.
- The term greenwashing was first used in 1986 by Jay Westerveld, an American environmentalist and researcher.
- Greenwashing is the practice in which firms and governments mark all kinds of activities as climate-friendly, as something that would lead to emissions reduction, or avoidance of emissions.
- Many of these claims are unverifiable, misleading, or dubious.
- While it helps in boosting the image of the entity, they do nothing in the fight against climate change.
- Several multinational corporations, including oil giants like Shell and BP, and Coca Cola have faced accusations of greenwashing.
- Greenwashing is prevalent across a whole range of environmental activities.
- Developed countries are often accused of greenwashing their normal business investments in developing countries by highlighting climate co-benefits of the financial flows, sometimes with very little justification.
