GREENWASHING
“In the interests of the environment please try and reuse your towels before placing them in the laundry.” A common notice on a little card in your hotel bathroom you have no doubt seen before. It’s a commendable request, use less water, use less chemicals, save our environment.
Actually, no, it’s Greenwashing, a term coined by New York environmentalist, Jay Westervelt in 1986. The term has been used for decades when companies or institutions try and purport their activities or products are environmentally friendly by superficially promoting a misinformation or advertising campaign. These token gestures may seem rather innocuous, however Greenwashing on a grander, more insidious scale is increasingly taking place.
Large corporations spend millions promoting their green credentials to mislead their customers. The Oil industry has been using this tactic for decades. A variant of Greenwashing is green scamming – a deliberate policy to use environmentally friendly sounding wording on products or services. Ads for ‘clean natural gas’ are commonplace across the world for example, while one of the largest Oil organisations in the world, Saudi Aramco, has been awarded environmental awards (paid for) by the “The Green Organisation”. I recently drove into a major highway service station forecourt in Ireland run by the AppleGreen organisation. A large advertising horde had been erected with a picture of company executives standing in front of some green plants. It read “Put Carbon into Neutral with AppleGreen”. Their website stated “As part of our journey towards electric vehicles, and a low carbon future, we’re now offering you the choice of carbon neutral driving with Applegreen PowerPlus fuel”. A public social media row ensued, with the company being called out with direct accusations of Greenwashing.
In February 2021, whilst walking through Dublin International Airport I was confronted by lots of digital displays stating the airport had been awarded carbon neutral status. On closer inspection it appears this has been achieved by switching to more efficient lighting and carbon offsetting by supporting African water projects. The airport also upgraded their ground fleet, effecting an overall 25% reduction in CO2 emissions. A corporate tick in the box for the executive assigned with meeting ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) goals.
The award was given to the airport by ‘a globally recognised environmental programme’. An image of six LEVs (Low Emission Vehicles) accompanies their claim. They are hybrid cars – more about the hybrid lie in a future blog. The accreditation was provided by the ‘Airport Carbon Accreditation’ – a programme run under ACI Europe – the European Airports trade body.
Reducing carbon emissions by any clean measure is a step in the right direction and good news for global efforts. Greenwashing, however, by claiming to be carbon neutral through carbon offsetting, will not meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and will not reduce global carbon emissions. Greenwashing through offset programmes is akin to burning tires in your back garden and planting trees in your front – then claiming you are neutral. Oil companies have been going all out on Greenwashing.
BP for example has committed just 3.2% of its budget for renewable investing while claiming to be on a mission to carbon neutrality by 2050. This does not mean no more oil and gas production in 30 years, rather it means investing and developing in clean technologies to offset their oil operations. Actions do not match the words of big oil with continuing investment in new exploration dwarfing investment in clean tech and renewables. Between 2020 and 2024 the oil industry is set to expend $1.4bn in new extraction projects according to the Global Gas and Oil Network. Exxon’s ‘algae-biofuel campaign’ is a good example of greenwashing. The highly promoted project will equate to just 0.2% of the company’s refining capacity. Exxon is allocating less than 1% of its revenue to developing clean energy. This false promotion was called out by a Massachusetts Attorney General, where she stated “the company (Exxon) violates Massachusetts law through a deceptive ‘greenwashing’ marketing campaign that misleadingly presents Exxon as a leader in cutting-edge clean energy research and climate action”. Analysis by Carbon Tracker, analysing nine larger oil companies stated in 2020 that “Most oil majors' net-zero strategies are greenwash, with US firms faring the worst”
Offsetting carbon emissions through new clean energy technology funding, planting trees and carbon projects are positive developments, relying on offsetting to try to neutralise still growing Co2 emissions from the oil industry is not. The Oil industry knows this and knows that in order to exist in a future form they will have to make a massive transformative effort. Embracing the electric revolution is the first step in the right direction.
