One Sliver Of Good Environmental News: At Least Corporate Greenwashing Is Dying

[hatrack]

The era of greenwashing may have lasted only a few years. A period in which large corporations felt obliged to publish (timid) transition plans, conceal often uncomfortable truths, and present a greener face to the world—greener than coal-black or oil-black realities. That time already feels like a distant memory. A succession of crises and emergencies has ushered in a new rhetoric, reaffirmed in the Draghi Plan, enthusiastically embraced across Europe: the notion that “there’s no more room” now. Now it’s time to “get serious.” As if respecting human rights or fighting the climate crisis were peripheral issues.

Let’s take a step back to understand how we got here—and why greenwashing may be giving way to a new era. When Laurent Fabius, then president of COP21, struck the wooden gavel to mark the adoption of the Paris Agreement, it was seen as a wake-up call for world leaders. It was November 2015. Barack Obama was president of the United States, François Hollande led France, and Angela Merkel was in charge in Germany. Despite any criticism one might have had, that world seems long gone.

EDIT

For many big companies, however, the “emergency” was something else entirely: the need to maintain business as usual while making governments, clients, and investors believe they were part of the fight against climate change. This is when greenwashing was born. Media campaigns, green-tinted logos, initiatives (sometimes real, but negligible in scale), alliances, statements, grand announcements, handshakes. All designed to clean up appearances—but not consciences.

Let’s be honest: many of these companies, banks, investment funds, and even governments were simply waiting for an event, a crisis, any excuse to turn back. And that moment arrived.

EDIT

https://valori.it/age-of-postwashing/

[NNadir]

1. This might leave some of our hydrogen marketeers out of work. I, for one, won't miss them. n/t.