CMA: UK businesses have until New Year to clean up greenwashing claims September 20, 2021 The UK’s competition watchdog has today given British businesses a deadline of the end of the year to resolve any misleading green marketing claims – so-called “greenwashing” – to avoid regulatory action. At the beginning of 2022, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will carry out a full review of the environmental declarations made [...]
Tesco AGM: Activists rally against greenwashing and unsustainable meat June 25, 2021 Activists flocked to Tesco’s annual general meeting this morning to protest greenwashing and meat that causes deforestation, holding giant letters which spelt the words ‘Forest Crime. The protestors ambushed delegates attending the supermarket giant’s annual general meeting (AGM), held at Tesco’s headquarters in Welwyn Garden City. The 10-metre wide ‘Forest Crime’ sign was accompanied by [...]
Bond investors and sustainability: is it all greenwash? March 29, 2021 With issuance of green, social and sustainability bonds expected to hit a record $650 billion this year, Schroders’ Head of Sustainable Credit Saida Eggerstedt tackles the topic of greenwashing. “We are in a boom era for borrowing linked to sustainability criteria,” according to Saida Eggerstedt, Schroders’ Head of Sustainable Credit. In 2020, the global issuance [...]
MPs call for ‘greenwashing’ ban in financial services April 22, 2021 The UK should take steps towards banning ‘greenwashing’, MP’s have written today, by making environmental labelling compulsory for consumer financial products and task regulators to stop misleading claims. It comes as climate activists smashed windows at HSBC’s Canary Wharf headquarters this morning, in protest of the bank’s investment policies. In the run-up to the UK’s [...]
Treasury sets up new expert panel to tackle ‘greenwashing’ June 9, 2021 The Treasury has today set up a new group of expert advisers in order to clamp down on “greenwashing” amid the economic transition to a net zero economy. With businesses under more pressure than ever by shareholders and activists to ensure that their operations and investments do not damage the environment, ministers have been urged [...]
Scantily clad CMA guidelines will do little to fend off greenwashing on our high streets and in our banks October 5, 2021 restore it. The term greenwashing wasn’t invented by the environmentally active Gen Z or even the older cohort of millenials. It dates back to 1986 when American environmentalist Jay Westerveld used it to describe hotels asking their customers to reuse towels to limit water usage while they abused neighbouring nature areas for their premises. Washing [...]
Why transparency is key to see through the greenwash March 22, 2021 Adam Robbins, senior investment relationship manager at Triodos Investment Management, offers his view as to why transparency is so important when you’re exploring the many shades of ‘green’ impact investments. Globally, there are undeniable changes shaping our future, such as climate change, ecosystem collapse, population growth, and scarcity of natural resources. Add to those the [...]
Sustainable or Suspect November 22, 2023 Investors worldwide are increasingly questioning the reliability of companies’ sustainability performance metrics, with a growing wariness of potential greenwashing tactics. A recent Global Investors Survey by PwC discovered a consensus among 94% of investors, that corporate reporting on sustainability performance contains unsupported claims (an increase from last year). Yet investors continue to deem sustainability as [...]
Data: The lifejacket that keeps ESG afloat January 29, 2024 If the year is 1983 and you find yourself in Fiji looking at a notice asking you to reuse your hotel towels for the sake of the environment, then your name is probably Jay Westerveld and you’re about to come up with the term “greenwashing”. Mr. Westerveld was lodging in a beach resort undergoing large, [...]
Most ‘sustainable’ investors have money in banks that fund fossil fuels March 13, 2024 A majority of investors that picked their ISA based on sustainability credentials actually have their cash in the 'worst' providers, according to a new study.