The brand new tracker exhibits Malaysia to be the area’s hotspot for greenwash, with oil and gasoline main Petronas being flagged for making exaggerated or doubtful inexperienced claims greater than some other firm.
RimbaWatch, a Kuala Lumpur-based non-profit, mentioned the Zero Greenwashing Alliance Pointers and Database goals to discourage greenwashing and nudge corporations to develop credible local weather and environmental targets. The platform – which RimbaWatch hopes will probably be utilized by members of the general public to report greenwashing – has recognized 17 circumstances in Southeast Asia because the starting of 2020.
Among the many circumstances listed, 12 occurred in Malaysia, 4 in Singapore and one in Brunei.
The database is dominated by fossil fuel-related companies. For instance, Malaysia oil and gasoline big Petronas is flagged for greenwashing greater than some other firm; the database lists 5 events within the final 5 years, and highlights the way it had misled customers over the extent of its decarbonisation efforts.
Southeast Asia’s greenwashing manufacturers
Petronas
The Malaysian oil and gasoline main was flagged for having an commercial that includes deceptive decarbonisation claims banned within the UK, questionable web zero targets that exclude Scope 3 emissions, positioning its carbon seize gasoline facility as inexperienced, advertising and marketing fossil gasoline as “carbon impartial, in addition to positioning fracking as an exercise that does no environmental hurt.
Shell
The multinational oil and gasoline agency featured on the greenwash database for selling fossil gasoline extraction powered by renewable power in Malaysia and claiming to supply “carbon impartial” liquified pure gasoline by shopping for carbon offsets.
Chevron
The oil main’s Singapore operation claimed its service was carbon impartial as a result of carbon offsets had been bought.
Seize
The Singapore-based ride-hailer claimed its passengers might experience carbon impartial by contributing to a carbon challenge of disputed credibility.
Bursa Carbon Change
Malaysia’s inventory alternate operator auctioned renewable power credit generated by tasks linked to human rights abuses.
Mini
The carmaker’s promoting declare that its electrical marque generated “zero carbon emissions” was false, as Malaysia’s grid is generally run on fossil fuels.
Mercedes-Benz
The German automotive model erroneously informed Malaysian customers that its EV vary produced “zero emissions”.
Maybank
The Malaysian financial institution’s bank card providing claimed that buyers might neutralise their emissions utilizing carbon offsets.
Metropolis Power
The Singapore model previously often known as CityGas claimed that customers might “go inexperienced” with its gas-powered water heaters.
Sphiere
Brunei IT agency made carbon neutrality claims based mostly on questionable tree-planting carbon offsetting scheme.
Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam
Shah Alam Metropolis Council claimed the Malaysian metropolis was “low carbon” with out proof.
Supply: Zero Greenwashing Alliance Database (1 January 2020 to at present)
Shell is the subsequent mostly recognized model within the examine. The British oil main’s communications had been flagged 3 times – for selling the extraction of fossil fuels utilizing renewable power and claiming to supply “carbon impartial” liquified pure gasoline by shopping for carbon offsets.
Different cited greenwashing circumstances concerned banks, transport corporations and a authorities company (see field), with circumstances involving non-credible carbon offsets and renewable power certificates, insufficient web zero targets, or zero influence product claims. The database contains responses from the companies and types listed, permitting corporations 10 working days to reply to any evaluation.
RimbaWatch director Adam Farhan informed Eco-Enterprise that there have doubtless been “a whole lot, if not hundreds” of circumstances of greenwashing in Southeast Asia over the interval of investigation, and people highlighted don’t but symbolize a complete assessment of company communications throughout the area.
He famous that essentially the most dangerous circumstances of greenwashing in Southeast Asia so far lead customers into believing that utilizing ride-hailing purposes don’t have any environmental influence in the event that they buy carbon offsets.
One other worrying pattern is the promotion of “false” options comparable to pure gasoline as an important bridge gasoline and carbon seize know-how that lead customers and policymakers into believing that increasing fossil gasoline manufacturing is just not solely attainable however useful to mitigating emissions that are pushed by those self same fuels to start with, Farhan mentioned.
The database at the moment solely contains circumstances in three international locations, though RimbaWatch and challenge associate Greenpeace Malaysia plan to increase its analysis to cowl different Southeast Asian nations.
In accordance with Eco-Enterprise’s personal reporting, three circumstances of greenwashing within the palm oil and pulp and paper sector have been recorded in Indonesia and one in Vietnam regarding air journey since 2020.
Why has Southeast Asia been sluggish to police greenwashing?
Final yr, Australia was the one nation in Asia Pacific to punish corporates for greenwashing within the courts. Jurisdictions together with the European Union, Peru, Colombia and India have developed legally binding and non-binding laws and steering which particularly outline the form of claims which represent greenwashing, however no nation in Southeast Asia has developed such tips so far.
Farhan commented that in Malaysia’s case, regulatory motion on greenwashing has been sluggish partly as a result of client rights is “a comparatively nascent idea”.
There are gaps in Malaysia’s client safety laws, which doesn’t explicitly deal with greenwashing or reply successfully to up to date environmental challenges, he mentioned.
“Whereas there isn’t any scarcity of aggrieved customers in Malaysia, the journey from grievance to authorized redress is fraught with challenges. Traditionally, authorized outcomes in ‘David versus Goliath’ eventualities – comparable to people taking up governments – haven’t at all times been beneficial, which can discourage people from pursuing justice,” he mentioned.
Farhan cited a forthcoming analysis paper by authorized researchers Kuberan Hansrajh Kumaresan and Benjamin Franta of the Local weather Litigation Lab, which factors out that Malaysia’s Client Safety Act successfully confines complaints to the Client Tribunal as the first discussion board for redress; nevertheless, the tribunal lacks the authority to problem declarations or injunctions that would completely cease greenwashing campaigns.
Farhan additionally famous that the powers of self-regulatory business our bodies such because the Promoting Requirements Authority of Singapore had been restricted past ruling that an commercial is greenwashing, and infrequently are capable of impose fines for infractions.
“We consider that larger provisions for penalties must be developed, comparable to an act which particularly governs the making of environmental claims,” he informed Eco-Enterprise.
Farhan predicted that Singapore can be first to take critical steps to manage sustainability communications, adopted by different jurisdictions the place client consciousness on greenwashing is excessive.
Singapore was the primary nation in Southeast Asia to take away promoting that was deemed to be greenwashing, with a marketing campaign for airline VietJet taken down this yr for claiming its fleet is “eco-friendly”.
“We consider that step one in significantly addressing greenwashing is to easily outline it at a nationwide degree, and make sure that definitions of greenwashing are as granular as attainable, protecting various kinds of commonly-greenwashed claims, comparable to aspirational web zero targets and offsets,” mentioned Farhan.
Greenwashing tips
The Zero Greenwashing Alliance’s Inexperienced Claims Information gives manufacturers with recommendation on tips on how to keep away from greenwashing, utilizing the United Nations Atmosphere Programme tips for offering product sustainability info as the premise, and referencing 9 laws and steering from different international locations.
The documented greenwashing circumstances in Southeast Asia mostly breach Zero Greenwashing Alliance’s tips in two methods: making environmental claims based mostly on carbon offsets and hiding or omitting materials info in a declare.
The rules emerges a yr earlier than the European Union is to ban environmental claims comparable to “carbon impartial”, “pure”, “eco” or “environmentally-friendly” with out verification in a bid to crack down on greenwashing.
