In many cases, they are not, and this is due to the process of greenwashing. ‘Greenwashing’ is the process of labelling or marketing something as sustainable, green or eco-friendly when that is not the case….
While the full extent of this practice is difficult to measure, the European Commission recently found that more than 40% of the ‘seemingly dubious’ green claims made on business websites were incorrect or misleading. And a recent study of multinational corporations found that up to 30% of such firms often provide incorrect data about their emissions levels, with the biggest anomalies occurring in fossil fuel industries and involving major global entities such as Exxon Mobil, Imperial Oil and Shell.
A less obvious form of greenwashing, but one that is particularly relevant to multinational corporations and large enterprises, is a failure to provide a holistic view of the firm’s overall environmental impact…. If consumers cannot form an accurate understanding of what truly is a sustainable commodity, then they will often be misled into bypassing genuine offerings and purchasing false ones instead.
From ‘Greenwashing: A Market Distortion Needing Serious Attention in Southeast Asia‘, Eco-Business
