A guilt free Cruise !
Cruise ships are being promoted as green - because theya re using LPG. Reported by Transport and Environment T&E is working to reverse shipping’s growing addiction to liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel – responsible for global warming through carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and methane (CH4) slips.
whatever kind of fossil fuel used it comes down to the same problems - increasing greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. LPG releases more methine up to 80 x stronger as a greenhouse gas than CO2.
Have a look at the promotional video. And laugh. https://twitter.com/transenv/status/1674696833631748098?s=46&t=G-B6VCzyu1BK7BIY_X1iWA
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Google profiting from Big Oil
The Center for Countering Digital Hate comprehensively details how Google enables Big Oil’s greenwashing.
We reveal that nearly half of the $23.7 million spent on Google search ads by oil and gas companies in the last two years have targeted search terms on environmental sustainability. The five companies studied in this report, ExxonMobil, British Petroleum (BP), Chevron, Shell, and Aramco, have polluted our search results while Google raked in their dirty money.
You can read the story from Countering Digital Hate here
and download the report they have produced here
The Center for Countering Digital Hate is a US-headquartered international non- profit NGO that disrupts the architecture of online hate and misinformation. https://counterhate.com
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Net Zero Scrutiny Group - who are they?
DeSmog reports on a recent letter in the Telegraph:
High-Profile Allies of Anti-Net Zero Parliamentary Group Revealed in Telegraph Letter
Former Conservative ministers and high-ranking MPs among those who have backed Net Zero Scrutiny Group’s new attack on green policy
DeSmog reports:
"The list of NZSG allies released today includes individuals associated with the Global Warming Policy Foundation(GWPF), the UK’s principal climate science denial group, which has extensive ties with the parliamentary caucus. The letter in the Telegraph was signed by Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns and Lord Frost, both of whom are directors at the GWPF, which regularly questions the scientific basis of human-caused climate change.
The majority (54 percent) of Conservative MPs who signed the NZSG letter are either current or former members of the European Research Group (ERG) – a faction of the Conservative Party that supported a ‘hard’ Brexit and was reportedly the model for the NZSG.
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Greenhushing
What is #greenhushing & why are brands doing it? Greenhushing is when companies choose to not communicate their sustainability efforts "While #greenwashing deliberately exaggerates a company’s sustainability claims to mislead people to think that they are more sustainable than they actually are, greenhushing deliberately under-communicates a company’s sustainable practices. So by definition, they’re the inverse of each other. "
Why is greenhushing bad? It keeps sustainability from becoming the norm, doesn't allow clients to make informed decisions and can be misleading.
Why are brands greenhushing?
1. The fear of being criticized and getting a bad reputation
2. To reduce customer guilt
3. There’s a negative perception of sustainable products
4. Companies are not confident they’ll meet their goals
5. There’s pressure on smaller companies
6. Companies are unsure when or how to communicate sustainability efforts
How to avoid greenhushing?
1. Be transparent
2. Admit imperfection
3. Let the laws do the talking
4. Choose your partners carefully
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Sainsburys: Carbon Free Eggs
Sainsburys have a product for sale claiming to be carbon free : "Respectful Medium Carbon Neutral Free Range Eggs.
What does that really mean? Easy to lead with that headline, but further down the description it's a little less clear: Eggs that Won't Cost the Earth, Low CO², Solar & Wind, Local Feed, Deforestation Free, GMO Free, Reducing your Carbon Foodprint ....
The producer - Respectful - don't actually claim to be carbon neutral, "We’ve made a commitment to our planet and pledged to reduce our carbon foodprint."
So what exactly is it?
Of course, you might have guessed - it's all about Carbon offsetting. The claims on the Respectful site say "Offsetting CO2 emissions is an important step in effective climate action, alongside avoidance and reduction. ClimatePartner recommends companies establish and act on CO2 avoidance and reduction plans as a continuous process, and supports them in corresponding strategies. For example, by supporting in defining science based reduction targets, or switching to renewable energy."
But Carbon Ofsetting comes at a huge cost and with a huge risk. Respectful use a company - Climate Partner - to manage their offsets. Climate Partner refer to the offsets they sell as being managed by other comapnies "The issuance is recorded on a public registry managed by an independent standard body such as Verra or the Gold Standard."
A recent article in The Guardian makes the claim that carbon credits issued by Verra are worthless: "The research into Verra, the world’s leading carbon standard for the rapidly growing $2bn (£1.6bn) voluntary offsets market, has found that, based on analysis of a significant percentage of the projects, more than 90% of their rainforest offset credits – among the most commonly used by companies – are likely to be “phantom credits” and do not represent genuine carbon reductions."
So, back to the Eggs. If their claim to be Carbon Neutral is backed by Offsetting which is possibly worthless .....
And meanwhile thte Advertising Standards Authority are looking into it: Well, sort of.
Thank you for contacting the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
As you may know the ASA is running a Climate Change and the Environment project which is focussing on how we regulate environmental claims in several priority areas. You can read a general overview of the project here and the following articles outline the areas that we’re currently focussing on and link to research findings that have since been published (here and here).
Your concerns relate to one of these key areas, so while this work is ongoing we will not be taking your individual complaint forward at this time. This will instead feed into this work and will form the basis of useful intelligence for the project.
We hope this helps to explain our decision, and thank you again for contacting us. If you’d like to be kept up to date about our work or hear about any formal ASA rulings, you can sign up to receive updates here.
Yours sincerely,
Ruth
Ruth Piper
Complaints Executive
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Greenhushing
What is #greenhushing & why are brands doing it? Greenhushing is when companies choose to not communicate their sustainability efforts "While #greenwashing deliberately exaggerates a company’s sustainability claims to mislead people to think that they are more sustainable than they actually are, greenhushing deliberately under-communicates a company’s sustainable practices. So by definition, they’re the inverse of each other. "
Why is greenhushing bad? It keeps sustainability from becoming the norm, doesn't allow clients to make informed decisions and can be misleading.
Why are brands greenhushing?
1. The fear of being criticized and getting a bad reputation
2. To reduce customer guilt
3. There’s a negative perception of sustainable products
4. Companies are not confident they’ll meet their goals
5. There’s pressure on smaller companies
6. Companies are unsure when or how to communicate sustainability efforts
How to avoid greenhushing?
1. Be transparent
2. Admit imperfection
3. Let the laws do the talking
4. Choose your partners carefully
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Who invented the Carbon Footprint?
BP invented the carbon footprint. Pure #greenwash. Focusing on how you reduce your carbon footprint is barking up the wrong tree. If you’re standing back as you watch Big Oil burn the planet, if you worry about protest tactics - you’ve been duped@bp_plc
Read the story of how Big Oil is manipulating the way you think about climate change. A logic professor explains how a persistent, subtle fallacy has infected public discussion of climate change. The article in Salon
"As ecologist Carl Safina said: "We are sacrificing our money, sacrificing what is big and permanent, to prolong what is small, temporary, and harmful. We're sacrificing animals, peace, and children to retain wastefulness – while enriching those who disdain us." The real question isn't one of sacrificing gas stoves. It is this: how can we free ourselves from the fossil-fuel industry's iron grip, even in our homes?
Another example of this subterfuge, also from the fossil fuel world, is the idea of carbon sequestration. How can we capture the carbon dioxide that is spewing into the atmosphere? Embed it in concrete blocks, engineers propose. Pipe it to underground caverns, store it in algae blooms or marshes or timber-frame skyscrapers.
Obviously, we need to remove excess carbon dioxide from the air if we want Earth to remain habitable. But the best, fastest way to reduce the carbon dioxide load of the atmosphere is to stop burning fossil fuels — not to spend billions of dollars developing an entire new industry devoted to sequestering carbon in all kinds of complicated ways. Close down the coal plants. Phase out oil and gas drilling. Get those brilliant engineers back on track, addressing the real question of how we are going to stop oil and gas drilling, and soon." from an article in Salon.com
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Greenwashing Adverts face UK ban
Adverts claiming products are carbon neutral by using offsetting face UK ban. The Guardian reports "Advertising watchdog to begin stricter enfiorcement on use of terms such as 'carbon neutral' amid concerns over offsets" Read the story here.
About time the trickery of some of these companies and their claims were exposed.
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Has King Charles stolen the green man ?
Central to the design is the motif of the Green Man, an ancient figure from British folklore, symbolic of spring and rebirth, to celebrate the new reign. The shape of the Green Man, crowned in natural foliage, is formed of leaves of oak, ivy and hawthorn, and the emblematic flowers of the United Kingdom.
But is he using the symbol to appear greener than he really is ?
But not everyone sees things that way:
For Charles to adorn his coronation invite with this symbol, when, as a hugely wealthy landowner, and unelected inheritor of money, security and status, he represents the opposite of everything the Green Man stands for, is disgusting.
He has stolen the Green Man from those who should be sheltered by its rough yet enchanted history at a time of environmental collapse, just as he has stolen his money and jewels and palaces from his British and colonial subjects. For all his ‘passion for nature,’ he is, at heart, just another monarch-exploiter, a kidnapper of symbols and public trust, part of a long chain of hierarchal rulers who abuse their power.
The Green Man is of the commons and the wild places, is for the rebels, the dissidents, the heretics and freedom fighters, and is at home in communities of human and nonhuman kin; those who want to share the earth together, grow together, and live in balance.
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Saudi green initiative
#Didyouknow there are 60+ different ecosystems within Saudi Arabia? #KSA is working to protect 30% of its land and sea by 2030, as well as breed and rewild endangered native species including Arabian oryx and sand gazelles.
Aim: Protecting 30% of KSA's land and sea by 2030.
And how they're going to do that when they produce more Oil and Gas than ever and Saudi Aramco is one of the worlds biggest O&G companies. No conflict?
And while we're looking at Saudi Arabia: Neom "The future of Tourism" is surely a great example of dystopia being planned right now.
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The big zero ... sponsored by ....
"We’re back! Bigger, better and bolder. Join us on 20th June for the Big Zero Show, where you will network with hundreds of businesses and public sector organisations taking bigger steps to net zero. You’ll hear from great thought leaders across various sectors and we will help you with practical advice and solutions."
But the list of sponsors includes: Drax, Shell, Total (all committed to fossi fuels) ... would be interesting to know what their pitch is?
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Active Travel England gets advice from Shell
Active Travel England is responsible for making walking, wheeling and cycling the preferred choice for everyone to get around. Our objective is for 50% of trips in England’s towns and cities to be walked, wheeled or cycled by 2030.
By making everyday journeys simple, easy and fun, Active Travel England is working to give people the choice to leave their car at home. We’ll do this by working alongside councils to:
give people an alternative to driving by delivering new, protected routes and junctions, and quieter roads and neighbourhoods
put active travel at the heart of towns and cities, including ensuring that £3.2 billion of government investment on active travel delivers to new high national standards
embed active travel into 1,000 major new developments, reducing local congestion
provide the tools to deliver ambitious active travel programmes, including training local officers and councillors in active travel delivery best practice
make it safer, including developing new solutions and guidance on safe infrastructure design based on solid insight and evidence to reduce the risk of near-misses and collisions
Active Travel England is an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Transport.
Presumably that's also fewer car journeys? Wonder why they've appointed someone from Shell onto their board?... David Bunch as a non-executive member appointed chairman of Shell UK Ltd and now has corporate responsibilities for Shell’s activities across the UK. Is this another example of Shell trying to clean up their image ? Like they did at the Science Museum ?
"Non-executive board members provide Active Travel England with strategic advice, support and challenge. They work with the management team and attend Active Travel England board meetings."
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