Latest news with #greenwashing
Malay Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
TotalEnergies on trial: Greenwashing claims could set legal precedent in France
PARIS, June 6 — Environmental groups took TotalEnergies to court yesterday in a landmark Paris trial, accusing the French oil and gas giant of misleading consumers with ads that overstate its climate commitments and fossil fuel transition. It is the first such case in France targeting a major energy company and could set a legal precedent for corporate environmental advertising, which is starting to face tighter regulations in the European Union. The civil case stems from a March 2022 lawsuit by three environmental groups accusing TotalEnergies of 'misleading commercial practices' for saying it could reach carbon neutrality while continuing oil and gas production. The plaintiffs took that legal route as 'greenwashing', or the act of claiming to be more environmentally responsible than in reality, is not specifically covered under French law. Starting in May 2021, TotalEnergies advertised its goal of 'carbon neutrality by 2050' and touted gas as 'the fossil fuel with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions'. At the time, the company had changed its name from Total to TotalEnergies to emphasise its investments in wind turbines and solar panels for electricity production. The plaintiffs allege that TotalEnergies made around 40 'false advertisements' in their lawsuit. 'For the average consumer, it is impossible to understand that TotalEnergies is actually expanding fossil fuel production,' said Clementine Baldon, a lawyer for the NGOs. The company's strategy 'will not help the energy transition', Baldon told the court. 'It delays it, even prevents it, and it contributes to putting the objectives of the Paris accord at risk,' she added, referring to the international agreement aimed at curbing climate change. TotalEnergies maintains it has not engaged in misleading commercial practices. 'Greenwashing would be to promise that the petrol sold in service stations is carbon neutral,' said the company's lawyer, Francoise Labrousse. TotalEnergies had 'never said its products are good for the climate', she added. TotalEnergies also insisted that the messages are part of its institutional communications regulated by financial authorities and not consumer law. It also argued the NGOs are misusing consumer protection rules to challenge its corporate strategy, and that no consumer organisation is party to the case. The NGOs want the Paris court to rule on the legality of ads presenting natural gas as essential to the energy transition. Climate experts say methane leaks from the gas industry have a powerful warming effect on the atmosphere. But TotalEnergies noted Greenpeace Belgium had previously considered natural gas useful for the energy transition and noted the group still uses fossil fuels in its boats. Correcting ads Environmental groups in recent years have turned to the courts to establish case law on companies misleading consumers by appearing more eco-friendly than they are. In Europe, courts ruled against Dutch airline KLM in 2024 and Germany's Lufthansa in March over misleading consumers about their efforts to reduce the environmental impact of flying. In Spain, utility Iberdrola failed to secure a conviction against Spanish oil and gas company Repsol over similar allegations of 'false' environmental claims. A greenwashing case against Australian oil and gas producer Santos, challenging its claim to be a 'clean fuels' company, has been ongoing since 2021. Other fossil fuel companies, under pressure from advertising regulators or legal complains, have had to scrap or correct ad campaigns. Shell, for example, received a warning in the UK and had to stop promoting 'carbon-neutral' gasoline in several countries, including Germany, the Netherlands and Canada. New European laws now ban vague, generic environmental claims such as 'green' or '100 per cent natural' product, and aim to require brands to more strictly substantiate environmental claims on labels and in advertising. TotalEnergies has said it plans to show that its messages 'about its name change, strategy and role in the energy transition are reliable and based on objective, verifiable data'. At the end of the hearing, the judge said a ruling would be given on October 23. — AFP
CTV News
5 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Competition Bureau releases final anti-greenwashing guidelines
The government's Competition Bureau website is pictured on a mobile phone and laptop screen in Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick GATINEAU — The Competition Bureau has released its final guidelines for anti-greenwashing legislation that came into effect about a year ago. The bureau says it considered more than 400 submissions as it finalized its guidance, although not all that feedback made its way into the end document. For instance, it says some suggested the bureau tell businesses exactly what environmental claims they can make and when, but it says the legislation includes no such rules — only that claims must not be false or misleading and must be backed up. The agency also received suggestions it act beyond its legal authority in some cases, but it says those matters must be left up to the courts or the Competition Tribunal to interpret. Some commenters argued that the bureau's enforcement of greenwashing provisions should mirror that of securities law, but it says ordinary consumers should be offered different protections than investors. The bureau says it has taken enforcement action in two environmental claims over the past two years — against coffee-pod maker Keurig and automaker Volkswagen — under deceptive marketing practices provisions. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025 The Canadian Press
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
TotalEnergies Accused in France of Greenwashing After Rebrand
TotalEnergies SE was accused in a French court of greenwashing by misleading consumers about its climate goals in a series of ad campaigns just after it rebranded and changed its name from Total. A group of nonprofits, which include Greenpeace France, attacked TotalEnergies' claim that it could achieve net zero emissions by 2050, saying it was incompatible with its continued expansion in oil production.
Harvard Business Review
5 days ago
- Business
- Harvard Business Review
It's Time to Update How Your Company Talks About Sustainability
As companies' environmental and social initiatives face increasing political pushback and legal threats, sustainability leaders have a difficult communications choice to make: stay quiet or speak up. It's easy to see why a growing number of organizations are choosing the former and intentionally under-communicating their sustainability efforts—or shutting down communications altogether. Businesses face pressure from all sides of the political spectrum—from conservative backlash against ESG and 'woke capitalism' to progressive scrutiny over unsubstantiated claims and greenwashing. In this highly charged environment, staying quiet can seem like the safest way to mitigate risk. However, this is a short-sighted strategy. A recent survey by Pew Research showed that about seven in 10 Americans say large businesses are doing too little to help reduce the effects of climate change. Silence on these issues can further erode consumer trust. Moreover, the business value that can be generated by climate initiatives continues to grow and includes lowered costs through less waste generation, lower raw material costs by keeping resources in use, lower energy use, as well as risk reduction through stronger energy and supply chain resilience. To build on this value, companies need a transparent sustainability communications strategy that's positive without being Pollyannaish, clear without being catastrophic, and committed without provoking unwarranted backlash. This requires deep strategic consideration of messages, language, and content formats. To do this, leaders need to implement three strategies: Understand and address the expectations of your employees and customers. Connect emotionally with your audience, using stories and facts to support your messages. Move beyond the traditional sustainability report. Our experiences show that leaders who follow these strategies have differentiated their brands. With personal, empathetic sustainability communications, supported by relevant data and delivered consistently across multiple channels, their organizations have taken decisive leadership positions—building investor confidence, employee engagement, and consumer loyalty. 1. Understand and address your employees' and customers' expectations. Studies show that consumer expectations around the world, including in the United States, do not necessarily mirror political rhetoric. Consumers are increasingly demanding sustainable products, and they are showing it through the purchases they make. Across all socioeconomic strata, they are demonstrating a growing preference for sustainable goods, which has increased the market share of these products to 23.8% overall, despite a 26.6% price premium. Likewise, employees increasingly expect the companies they work for to make a positive environmental impact, and they show it through their career decisions. Two out of three job seekers say they're more willing to apply for and accept jobs from organizations they consider to be environmentally sustainable. While national and international data are informative, businesses that understand the specific concerns and expectations of their customers and employees can demonstrate responsiveness through their actions and communications. The most effective content makes audiences feel like they're heard and seen—as if the brand is speaking directly to their challenges, hopes, and desires. This can't be achieved with assumptions of what audiences need or want. And it certainly can't be achieved with company-focused messages that prioritize the organization's interests over the audience's needs. To create content that truly resonates, you need deep audience insights. Boston Children's Hospital, one of the leading pediatric care systems in the world (and on whose board of trustees one of us, Vivian Lee, serves), conducted surveys of staff as well as patients and families to capture insights regarding their beliefs about climate change and their views about efforts of the hospital to reduce its environmental impact. That guidance has been shared widely and used to inform both staff initiatives and communication strategies both internally and externally. Aligned with customer expectations, the hospital's staff survey also sparked a number of internal waste-reduction and energy-efficiency initiatives. The survey results overall were also consistent with those of a recent survey by the Commonwealth Fund of 1,000 physicians in the United States, which found that four out of five agreed or strongly agreed that it was important that their employers play a role in addressing climate change and minimizing its impact on the environment. 2. Connect emotionally with your audience, using stories and facts to support your messages. It makes sense that some companies have taken pains to fill their sustainability communications with facts. After all, high-profile greenwashing accusations bring real risks from a legal, financial, and reputational perspective, and clear, specific, verifiable facts are the best way to combat these risks and create credible content. But if companies stop there, they miss an equally important opportunity to connect audiences to the why behind their what. This can't be done with facts alone. It takes storytelling to bring context, humanity, and empathy to the numbers. Studies like Potential Energy's Later is Too Late global messaging report have shown that communications should tap into universal human values and desires and then support those messages with relevant data. The study found that the main reason people cited for supporting climate action was to 'protect the climate for future generations.' Narratives that lead with 'the urgent need to protect the planet for the next generation' prove more motivating than rational messages about the environmental impacts of 'carbon pollution' or an 'overheating planet.' For B2B communications, the messages will inevitably be more targeted to the audience's specific business challenges. Another messaging study from Potential Energy, The Return on Responsibility, shows that, for corporate sustainability communications, framing climate action as a commonsense business strategy reduces the risk of pushback from climate skeptics. But that doesn't mean B2B brands should simply publish their data and stats. Instead, they should use specific examples and tell relevant stories to discuss the business issues their audiences care about, such as the financial risk of inaction, the opportunities to lead and innovate, and the responsibility to care for customers. By focusing on stories, not just facts, brands can make abstract ideas more concrete, relatable, and memorable. Specific language choices matter too. As U.S. companies back away from politically charged acronyms like DEI and terms like 'net zero,' it's a good time for organizations to evaluate all the language they're using to communicate sustainability. This action shouldn't be taken just to avoid political and regulatory scrutiny but also to translate the technical, complex language of sustainability into simple, human language—so more people can hear the message, understand it, and take action. This means shifting away from polarizing language like 'climate change' and insider terms like '1.5 C warming' and instead using universally understood language like 'extreme weather.' It means writing clearly about the climate outcomes that affect us all, such us wildfires and floods. It means talking about things like 'eliminating pollution' rather than 'decarbonizing.' And it means avoiding stock sustainability clichés like 'our sustainability journey' and instead getting very specific about the topics that matter to audiences. One of the world's leading sustainable brands, Patagonia, doesn't even use the word 'sustainability' in its external communications. Instead, it acknowledges that 'everything we make has an impact on the planet.' And then it addresses very clearly and specifically how it is changing the way clothes are made. Even better, it invites its audience to be part of the solution, showing them how to demand recycled, organic, and fair-trade clothing. Organic soap maker Dr. Bronner's also avoids the 's word' in its communications. Instead, its All-One Report discusses its 'cosmic principles' of caring for customers, employees, the broader community, and the earth. The result is a report that sounds like the brand and reflects its unique values. Reformation, the sustainable fashion retailer and lifestyle company, is another brand leading the way in sustainability communications. Using clear, human language—written in the unique voice of the brand—it explains complex concepts like circularity as 'make stuff that lasts, wear it a lot, don't throw it away.' For audiences who want to dive deeper, relevant details and statistics show exactly how it is achieving its goals. 3. Move beyond the traditional sustainability report. Releasing an ESG report once a year is not a sustainability communications plan, but for 70% of companies, these reports are the only sustainability communications they do all year. And now, with new mandatory reporting requirements and increased standardization of reporting frameworks on the horizon, organizations may feel even more boxed in by reporting compliance issues—leading to report content that's increasingly technical, data-driven, and uninspiring. This makes it a good time to expand communications beyond the report and explore new formats and channels for sustainability storytelling. This starts with rethinking the report itself, which can do much more than simply check compliance boxes. By moving away from the typical static report to digital report formats—which can include multimedia elements like video and animation—organizations can make complex content easier to consume and more interactive. Besides improving engagement and accessibility, this approach can also provide deeper insights into how audiences are consuming the content. However, few brands are taking full advantage of digital formats for their reports. One notable exception is farmer-owned dairy co-op Tillamook County Creamery Association. By moving from a static PDF to an interactive web format, the organization served the needs of its shareholders while also telling its story to consumers, customers, and partners. With an engaging, interactive format, written in Tillamook's playful brand voice, the report connects with people on a human level. And with detailed scorecard data just a click away, technical audiences can easily find the information they need. Whatever format a report takes, the key is to extend the storytelling beyond the report and create a steady drumbeat of content throughout the year. Boston Medical Center does this with a multi-channel content strategy that keeps its health equity and environmental messages front and center all year long. Its content includes everything from highly visual posts on TikTok and other social channels to in-depth health equity articles on its own digital platform, HealthCity, to people-centered video stories covering innovative programs like its rooftop garden and its Clean Power Prescription. Not every sustainability department has the resources to create a comprehensive, cross-channel communications plan. Budgets are increasingly tight, and in-house marketing teams often have competing product and sales priorities. Nevertheless, the sustainability report itself is a treasure trove of content that can be repurposed into smaller, standalone pieces—without additional budget or headcount. Turn key report metrics into a visual data story. Take an employee quote in the report and repurpose it into an Instagram spotlight. Through this lens, the report presents a myriad of efficient, cost-effective ways to extend storytelling and impact beyond the report—and build stronger relationships with all audiences. . . . As ESG undergoes a forced rebrand in 2025, companies should do more than merely change the terminology they're using, hunker down, and ride out the storm. Instead, they should use this time as an opportunity to rethink how they communicate sustainability altogether. Buried within every organization's energy-efficiency metrics, waste-diversion data, and healthy-workplace policies is a wealth of human stories just waiting to be told. And when they're told well, these stories aren't just feel-good marketing fluff; they're a vital business strategy. With strong sustainability narratives—told everywhere that audiences go—organizations have the power to bring new talent to teams, turn picky consumers into brand loyalists, and improve business results in the process.
Free Malaysia Today
5 days ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
TotalEnergies on trial in landmark greenwashing case in France
Since 2021, TotalEnergies advertised its goal of 'carbon neutrality by 2050' and touted gas as 'the fossil fuel with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions'. (AFP pic) PARIS : French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies goes on trial in Paris today over allegations of misleading climate claims, an unprecedented 'greenwashing' case against a fossil fuel firm in France. The civil case stems from a March 2022 lawsuit by three environmental groups accusing the French energy giant of 'misleading commercial practices' for saying it could reach carbon neutrality while continuing oil and gas production. Starting in May 2021, TotalEnergies advertised its goal of 'carbon neutrality by 2050' and touted gas as 'the fossil fuel with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions'. At the time, the company had also changed its name from Total to TotalEnergies to emphasise its investments in low-carbon energy, such as electricity. The plaintiffs have logged around 40 'false advertisements' in their lawsuit. The ads 'don't sincerely reflect the reality of TotalEnergies' operations', Apolline Cagnat, a legal counsel at Greenpeace, told AFP. Cagnat said the NGOs want the court to send a 'strong signal' to fossil fuel companies by ordering 'an immediate stop, under penalty, of the misleading commercial practices'. TotalEnergies disputes the charges, insisting the messages are part of its institutional communication, regulated by financial authorities – not consumer law. It argues no consumer organisation is party to the case, and that the NGOs are misusing consumer protection rules to challenge its corporate strategy. Environmental groups in recent years have turned to the courts to establish case law on companies misleading consumers by appearing more eco-friendly than they are. In Europe, courts ruled against Dutch airline KLM in 2024 and Germany's Lufthansa in March over misleading consumers about their efforts to reduce the environmental impact of flying. In Spain, utility Iberdrola failed to secure a conviction against Spanish oil and gas company Repsol over similar allegations of 'false' environmental claims. A greenwashing case against Australian oil and gas producer Santos, challenging its claim to be a 'clean fuels' company, has been ongoing since 2021. Based on a EU directive targeting unfair commercial practices, the TotalEnergies lawsuit is the first time a French court has heard such a case against a fossil fuel company. The NGOs said the Paris court will rule, for the first time in the world, on the legality of ads presenting gas as essential to the energy transition. Climate experts say methane leaks from the gas industry have a powerful warming effect on the atmosphere. TotalEnergies maintains it has not engaged in misleading commercial practices. The company says it plans to show that its messages 'about its name change, strategy and role in the energy transition are reliable and based on objective, verifiable data'.
