Greenwashing
A climate or environmental claim that overstates performance, omits material context, or is not supported by evidence.
Greenwashing ranges from outright invention to technically true statements placed in misleading context. The common thread is that the claim creates an impression the underlying evidence does not support.
In carbon markets the recurring patterns are familiar: net-zero claims resting mainly on purchased credits rather than reductions, credits described as removals when they are avoidance, vintages or methodologies left undisclosed, and baselines that assume implausible counterfactuals.
Regulators increasingly treat these as consumer protection and securities issues, not merely reputational ones. Defensible communication requires specificity — which credit, which standard, which vintage, which claim category — and avoidance of aggregate claims that cannot be traced to a ledger.
Frequently asked questions
Is using carbon credits always greenwashing?
No. It becomes misleading when credits substitute for reductions the claimant could make, or when the claim overstates what the credit achieved.
What makes a climate claim defensible?
Specificity, verifiable evidence, disclosure of assumptions, and consistency between the claim and the claimant's own emissions trajectory.