Grapevine

To really be greener, businesses need to look to the boardroom

Greenwashing scandals—the practice of misleading the public about what action a company or organization is taking to protect the environment—are on the rise. As the climate crisis intensifies, greenwashing represents a significant obstacle to meeting global climate change goals.

A recent example was the organizing committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which vowed to design the most eco-friendly games in history by halving plastic waste. However, the commitment later sparked concerns of greenwashing because of the overuse of plastic bottles and cups by its sponsor Coca-Cola. For its part, Coca-Cola said it "supported ambitions" "to reduce single-use plastic and added that it had also provided soda fountains and glass bottles at the games to that end.

Other high-profile examples include the oil major Shell, airlines AirFrance, Etihad, and Lufthansa, and the bank HSBC, all of which have had adverts banned in the UK because they were accused of misleading the public about the reality of their climate efforts.

Shell said it disagreed that the adverts misrepresented its environmental impact, while Etihad and Lufthansa changed the wording of their adverts after the ruling. HSBC said it would consider how best to engage its customers in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

All this begs the question: what on earth were the boards doing all this time? Board directors these days are under pressure to drive environmental change in their organizations. As part of their monitoring and advisory duties, they are also expected to ensure that corporate activities align with global climate change goals.