<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/parents-for-climate-target-more-utilities-after-landmark-win-against-state-sponsored-greenwashing/>
"The landmark legal settlement secured by the small non-profit group, Parents
for Climate, has put Australia’s biggest energy companies and corporate brands
on notice – and thrown a spotlight on the government-backed certification
scheme that enabled years of misleading green claims.
Last week, EnergyAustralia admitted that the pollution caused by burning coal
and gas cannot be undone by buying carbon offsets – a core feature of its
now-abandoned ‘Go Neutral’ product, certified under the federal government’s
Climate Active program.
Parents for Climate CEO Nic Seton told the
SwitchedOn Australia podcast the
outcome has significant implications for other energy providers – including
AGL, Origin, Engie, Alinta, Red Energy, and Powershop – and the hundreds of
other corporations, such as Coles, Qantas, KPMG, Medibank and Westpac, which
continue to rely on Climate Active certification to justify “carbon neutral”
claims.
“Every other company that’s undertaking that as part of their decarb strategy
will need to review the integrity of their plans and make adjustments,” said
Seton.
“Whether you’re making poor marketing claims or inadequate carbon
decarbonisation strategies you now are exposed to a level of risk that previous
to this case, wasn’t as clear.”
Despite growing concern over the credibility of carbon neutral claims, Seton
says the government continues to endorse and certify the same practice that
enabled Energy Australia to mislead more than 400,000 customers for nearly a
decade.
“They are still maintaining a program called Climate Active, which essentially
endorses, supports and certifies these claims,” he said.
“It’s like a kind of state-sponsored greenwashing … companies can claim to be
carbon neutral and cancel out their emissions with a government sticker and
tick of approval.”
Seton is calling for urgent action from the government and federal regulators
to uphold the public interest."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
