Communications of the ACM
World's Largest Companies Accused of Greenwashing
The research concluded that many large companies' net-zero and carbon-neutral pledges are 'undermined' by plans for the reduction of emissions elsewhere, hidden critical information, and accounting 'tricks'.
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Net-zero targets by 25 of the world's largest companies—responsible for 2.7 gigtatons of CO2 equivalent (GtCO2e), or 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions—cannot be taken at face value, according to a new report. Amazon and Google were among the 10 firms whose pledges were assigned a 'low' integrity, signalling that they could not be fully trusted.
The findings of the Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor, which was conducted by NewClimate Institute in collaboration with Carbon Market Watch, showed that of the 25 major companies evaluated, only one company's net-zero pledge—that of logistics giant Maersk—was considered to have 'reasonable integrity'.
Three companies' pledges—Apple, Sony and Vodafone—were evaluated as having 'moderate' integrity'; 10 were assigned a 'low' integrity; and the remaining 12 were given a 'very low' integrity.
Overall, the analysis found that the headline pledges of Amazon, Google, Deutsche Telekom, Enel, GlaxoSmithKline, Hitachi, IKEA, Vale, Volkswagen and Walmart have low integrity, and those of Accenture, BMW Group, Carrefour, CVS Health, Deutsche Post DHL, E.ON SE, JBS, Nestlé, Novartis, Saint-Gobain and Unilever have very low integrity.
From Computing (U.K.)
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