When the world’s wealthy and powerful descend on the Swiss ski resort of Davos every year to offer prescriptions to fix the world, the assumption from many on the outside is that these moguls are converging to fix it in a way that will protect their riches, or better yet expand them. Thus while there was XXL greenwashing afoot at this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in January 16 to20, at least it’s clear to the Davos crowd that the climate crisis is an acute threat, if foremost to their fortunes. Paul Hockenos on the role of climate change debates at the billionaires’ summit in Switzerland.
All posts tagged: greenwashing
South Korea’s bet on hydrogen may cost its commitment to the Global Methane Pledge
South Korea is jeopardizing its ability to meet its 2030 methane reduction target under the Global Methane Pledge due to the country’s plans to massively expand fossil-based hydrogen, according to a recent study by Seoul-based Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC) led by legal, economic, financial, and environmental experts with experience in energy and climate policy. Jinny Kim explains.
Cheniere’s new LNG greenwashing scheme exposes the deep flaws in industry’s methane strategy
In war there are winners and losers. One U.S. gas company profiteering off the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is America’s largest Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) exporter, Cheniere Energy. The company has pivoted more of its exports this year to Europe, which is in desperate need of alternatives to Putin’s gas. Over 70% of the company’s LNG exports went to Europe in the first half of 2022, up from less than 40% the year before. Lorne Stockman and Andy Rowell report. This article was originally published on Oil Change International.
Climate-Washing: Legal Liability for the New Green-Washing?
Climate change is the biggest global emergency we are facing, and using litigation to hold corporate polluters accountable for misleading consumers is one among a variety of avenues to combat this crisis. A recent report by the European Commission showed that 42% of online market websites contain false, deceptive or exaggerated environmental claims and could qualify as unfair commercial practice under European Union (EU) regulations. These are “greenwashing” claims, and the litigation brought on that basis highlights the gap that exists between environmental claims and actual action. In this blog post, Akriti Bhargava, Karla Martínez Toral and Aradhna Tandon explore what constitutes greenwashing practices, how these have been challenged in European courts and some implications for litigation of the EU Taxonomy.
Dream derailed: Coal plant Datteln IV upturns Deutsche Bahn’s green ambitions
Germany’s state-owned railroad, Deutsche Bahn (DB), proudly boasts it’s the largest green electricity user in the nation. With uptake scheduled to grow to 80% by 2030, in tandem with the newly passed German coal-exit laws, DB aims to become 100% renewable by 2038. But by beginning the long-sought phase-out by simultaneously firing up of the new Uniper-owned Datteln IV coal plant, Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition government has thoroughly derailed the railroad’s green ambitions. In one of the worst missteps on Germany’s tortured road towards carbon neutrality, politics has turned Deutsche Bahn into the land’s largest publically-funded greenwasher. L. Michael Buchsbaum takes a look