Big companies accused of spinning with greenwash
The phrase “greenwash” covers much more than misleading statements on shampoo bottles about a product’s green credentials.
A strand of the debate rages around the conflict between claims made by companies about their environmental credentials and the reality that many firms’ business models are incompatible with long-term sustainability.
Tesco, Shell and Disney have all come under fire for “greenwashing” the public about the environmental steps they are taking, while at the same time continuing unabated with what environmentalists view as unsustainable business models.
David Middleton, who is chief executive of two sustainable development business networks – the Business Council for Sustainable Development - United Kingdom, and the Midlands Environmental Business Company – said companies and political bodies can be guilty of greenwash.
“We see it on the commercial and the political side – on the corporate side through PR and the political side through spin,” he said. “We have got to break through to be more real about this.
“Sometimes there is disconnect between what is said in the boardroom and what they are doing operationally. It’s a gap that needs to be closed.”
Mr Middleton said the reason for the disconnect is that many companies are being driven by short-term aims whereas sustainable development was about longer-term goals.
“A local example would be the automotive sector which really has to wake up to a changing world and a growing market requirement for a different product suitable for a low carbon society,” he said.
But he added local government was also guilty of a similar thing. He highlighted Birmingham City Council, which has ambitious targets of cutting carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2026, and said the authority was not taking the opportunities it had available to create a low carbon city.
He pointed to the regeneration of Eastside and the “missed opportunity” to reconsider public transport in the designs for the area.
Businesses carbon-offsetting their environmentally damaging activities is another area which regularly comes under the category “greenwash”.
Mr Middleton said: “We think carbon offsetting has got a role to play as part of the mix. In all of this there is not one single solution.”
