“This is no longer a climate conference,” Swedish activist Greta Thunberg criticized last week. “This is now a global greenwashing festival. ”
While it is still too early to conclude that COP26 is a failure, Thunberg is certainly right about one point: the number of environmental commitments made by states and companies in recent weeks is staggering, and it is getting difficult. to distinguish concrete advances from blah blah. However, despite the growing importance of environmental issues and commitments in favor of carbon neutrality, Canada still does not consider the fight against green laundering as a priority.
Sustainability is popular: more than a fifth of the world’s largest companies have announced their goal of becoming carbon neutral over the next few decades, and most of Canada’s major companies have joined the movement. Indeed, the five largest Canadian banks all aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 (with the exception of CIBC, which is targeting 2024); Air Canada wants to reduce its GHG emissions from flights by 20% by 2030, and Enbridge has pledged to reduce its internal emissions by 30% by 2030.
Even Canadian oil companies have announced an alliance to achieve carbon neutrality over the next few years, focusing on carbon sequestration and GHG reduction technologies.
These commitments can be good for business: according to a 2019 study by PwC1, a third of Canadian consumers would be prepared to pay more for products reflecting their ethical and environmental considerations or for brands committed to sustainable development.
However, it is not always clear whether “sustainability” is a vulgar marketing strategy or a real commitment to systemic change. According to a recent international study, around 40% of advertisements highlighting the sustainable or eco-responsible nature of a product or service are false or misleading. Obviously, sustainability should not be just a commercial positioning, and any indication promoting the eco-responsibility of a product or a company should be based on facts. This is not a simple opinion: it is the law. By virtue of the Competition law, administered by the Competition Bureau (whose offices are located in Gatineau), it is illegal to make false or misleading representations in order to promote a product or commercial interests without sufficient proof.
Not a priority
Strangely, the fight against green laundering has not been a priority for the Competition Bureau in recent years: none of the federal agency’s strategic plans refer to the environment or sustainable development, and the Bureau has never made a concrete commitment to the fight against climate change. Last June, the Quebec Environmental Law Center filed a greenwashing complaint against Symbio Infrastructure’s Gazoduq project, but the Bureau has so far taken no action. A similar complaint was filed last Wednesday by Greenpeace Canada against the oil company Shell over a program to offset GHG emissions at the pump. It remains to be seen whether this approach, which is inspired by a similar complaint filed in the Netherlands, will be more successful.
Meanwhile, competition agencies around the world have started to use their powers to fight greenwashing.
For example, the UK’s competition agency recently issued new guidelines for ‘green’ advertising, in addition to announcing that it would investigate advertising claims focusing on sustainability over the course of the year. next year. In addition, the Netherlands competition agency announced this week that it has launched an investigation into the greenwashing practices of the Dutch fashion industry. Why is Canada not joining this encouraging trend?
Of course, there is not always a consensus on the exact definition of what constitutes an eco-responsible product or company, and some would say that the Bureau does not have the necessary expertise to crack down on greenwashing. However, the same argument could be raised in other sectors of the economy where the Bureau is already involved, such as digital technologies and medical products.
In addition, there are already many federal agencies that do not fall under Environment and Climate Change Canada and that use their expertise to ensure the protection of the environment. For example, the Canada Border Services Agency uses its expertise to fight against the introduction of invasive species and diseases that can affect flora and fauna. Likewise, the Public Health Agency of Canada is committed to developing a program to fight infectious diseases associated with climate change.
Why could the Competition Bureau not set similar goals in its own field of activity? Competition Commissioner Matthew Boswell recently called for a “thorough review of the Competition law ”Which would allow our laws to be adapted“ to today’s reality ”. The fight against greenwashing should be at the heart of such discussions. Let’s wake up the watchdog!
1. Read the PwC study What do you think? Express your opinion