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Greenwashing, whereby companies make themselves appear more environmentally friendly than they really are, has become a many-headed beast.
Greenlighting Greenlighting occurs when company communications (including advertisements) spotlight a particularly green feature of its operations or products, however small, in order to draw attention away from environmentally damaging activities being conducted elsewhere.
They found that though in company communication and academic papers, ExxonMobil often used phrases like ‘fossil fuel’ and recognized the major role their products play in global warming, the company’s public communications focused on ‘consumers’, ‘demand’ and ‘energy efficiency’, implicitly pointing the finger elsewhere.
It could demonstrate how sophisticated greenwashing strategies have become.
For example, management teams may be trying to gain a green valuation uplift without subjecting themselves to proper investor scrutiny by suggesting that the company’s sustainability performance is stronger than its official pronouncements suggest.
The information is not intended as financial advice.