Here’s How to Tell Green Good Deeds From Greenwashing

Corporations are growing more interested in proclaiming how green they are, on everything from their packaging to their fund raising. Companies have been selling record sums of green bonds and other forms of ethical debt, with some tied to their social and governance behavior as well as environmental actions. Faced with a flood of self-congratulatory announcements, it can be hard to figure out what’s really green or sustainable, and what’s “greenwashing” -- the use of misleading labels or advertising to create an undeserved image of environmental and ethical responsibility. Here are some questions that can help you sort through what’s meaningful and what’s not.

If a company’s goal is just a minor improvement over their previous goal, it might be greenwashing. But as companies grow more competitive about their environmental credentials, more are looking to be “net zero,” or carbon neutral, by 2050, a target scientists say is broadly necessary to avoid locking in catastrophe. Hundreds of companies have set science-based targets aimed at keeping their operations in line with the Paris Agreement’s commitment to keep global warming limited to at most 2 degrees Celsius. And an increasing number are investing in carbon removal projects as well -- such as Microsoft Corp.’s pledge to erase its historical emissions and Salesforce.com Inc.’s plans to plant a trillion trees.