The Secrecy Behind Carbon Neutral Companies

Carbon Neutral. What is it, where did it come from, and what does it really mean for the future?

Companies across the United States are starting to pledge their loyalty to environmental environmental issues. Most companies claim their supply chain, products, or services will no longer cause environmental distress by the year 2030. Large companies such as Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, and more have recently said their company will take a long look at their environmental footprint and hope to make large changes in the future. Although on the surface this seems to be a positive change there is much more happening behind the scenes of these decisions.

Over the last 6-12 months many large corporations are popping up with messages stating they will be carbon neutral by the year 2030. When I first heard these claims my first thought was, “Wow, this is great news!”, as I’m sure most individual’s reactions would be. After the 4th or 5th company headline that declared the same carbon neutral by 2030! I started to wonder, why now? what even is carbon neutral? and why 2030? Sadly, my excitement that more brands were becoming conscious of the environment was quickly squashed when I was reminded of United Nation’s Sustainable Development Agenda. The United Nations (UN) met in September 2019 and called for immediate action to ensure the betterment of the world by 2030. One of the essential things discussed was large corporation’s negative effect on current environmental issues. The UN questioned the possibility of charging these corporations who were not committing to a low-zero carbon footprint. Although the UN has not publicly stated that they will begin to charge corporations for their negative actions, they have made a timeline clear and it is the year 2030.

After realizing the connection I began to shift through more articles on the topic of carbon neutrality and companies starting to use marketing to seem more environmentally-friendly. For a company to be considered carbon neutral it must be removing the same amount of carbon dioxide (the gas that is currently thought of to be a large cause of climate change) that it is putting into the atmosphere. It sounds simple on the service but as most things, it is not. Companies are not necessarily changing their productions to be “more sustainable” but instead most are purchasing carbon offsets credits from B2B environmental groups which in turn will put funds into sustainable research or projects that the company wishes to be linked to. Not as green as it originally seems. So why are companies not fighting against UN possible new policy? It is simple, outward positive marketing and overall corporate greenwashing.

Corporate greenwashing is a phrase that began in the 1960s which means that a company’s advertising and/or marketing plans are trying to make the consumer imply they are an environmentally-friendly option. For example, H&M was under fire in 2018 after releasing a Conscious Collection in which the marketing explained the collection’s sustainable fabrics and production line. Sadly, the company could not back up these claims and were not able to show any proof that this collection was any different than ones previously. Examples like this are showing up more frequently with the push for sustainable living and individuals wanting to decrease their carbon footprint. Companies are beginning to slap words such as climate positive, organic, chemical-free, or green to attract these individuals to their products. These claims are often just vague enough that it is near impossible for legal action to be taken. Although some companies are releasing specific “sustainable collections” others are declaring their entire company is now an environmental advocate.

I have personally been juggling my thoughts about these claims and the reality behind them. My hope is these companies (such as Apple, who I proudly discuss their supposed environmental efforts) are truly making changes to create a better and more sustainable future, but I also see the reality of what is already beginning. I wonder if it is ethical for these companies to declare their willingness to be carbon neutral by 2030 without giving the footnote of the UN’s possible demand for it? Is it okay for companies to take the positive press and possible greenwashing of consumers? At this point in time I think it is important for consumers to push companies to give us more answers than questions. I do think it is harmful for companies to jump on the carbon neutral bandwagon without making genuine change in their own production. My first thought is what happens once the sustainable “trend” dies down throughout company advertising and marketing? Will we be in a worse place than when we started?

Although I ran through a lot of different topics around sustainability and corporations I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of them. Do corporations owe their consumers honesty? Is greenwashing real, and do you think it’s ethical? What do you think will happen by 2030?

Resources:

Decade of Action – United Nations Sustainable Development. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2020, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/decade-of-action/

Greenwashing – Definition, Seven Sins, and Example. (2020, May 28). Retrieved September 27, 2020, from https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/greenwashing/

Nguyen, T. (2020, March 05). More companies want to be “carbon neutral.” What does that mean? Retrieved September 27, 2020, from https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/3/5/21155020/companies-carbon-neutral-climate-positive