{"id":410844,"date":"2025-10-29T18:49:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T17:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=410844"},"modified":"2025-10-29T18:49:45","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T17:49:45","slug":"greenwashing-is-not-a-glitch-it-has-become-the-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=410844","title":{"rendered":"Greenwashing Is Not a Glitch \u2013 It Has Become the System"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Lars Schernikau: Energy Economist, Commodity Trader, Author (recent book \u201c<\/em>The Unpopular Truth\u2026 about Electricity and the Future of Energy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u201d<\/em><\/strong>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Details inc Blog at <\/em>www.unpopular-truth.com<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cNet-zero\u201d has become the corporate mantra of our time. But every \u201cgreen\u201d solution from solar panels to EVs leaves a trail of negative environmental impact (and greenhouse gases, that do exist and help to keep a temperate climate on Earth) somewhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every time I hear a company announce they are going \u201cnet-zero,\u201d<\/em> I start looking for the asterisk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


And sure enough, there it is, buried in the fine print next to a \u201ccarbon offset\u201d<\/em> bought somewhere far away or a \u201crenewable certificate\u201d<\/em> that\u2019s already been sold three times over. We\u2019re stacking \u201ecarbon credit\u201cs nine layers deep and calling it progress.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t sustainability\u2026It smells of greenwashing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenwashing exists because it is being rewarded.<\/em><\/strong> Investors pay for the story, consumers buy the feeling, and politicians need the slogan\u2026a collective illusion that let\u2019s everyone look good while nothing really changes.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The truth is, ESG was meant to guide responsible investment and governance, but in practice, it\u2019s become a tool for marketing, not measurement. Companies are claiming \u201cgreen\u201d status at every stage, from mining, to manufacturing, to financing, each one earning ESG points, each one waving the sustainability flag. Meanwhile, our planet barely notices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s get one thing straight: nothing<\/em> is or can ever be \u201cnet-zero.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Not wind turbines<\/a>, not solar panels<\/a>, nor hydrogen<\/a>. Every \u201cgreen\u201d technology depends on fossil fuels at some stage\u2026 usually at all stages: mining, manufacturing, transport, and disposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have created a trillion-dollar distraction as we are counting, offsetting, and trading emissions instead of making a truly positive environmental difference.<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If everyone can claim \u201cnet-zero,\u201d then who is actually reducing emissions?<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Graphic<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I wrote an\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0on Greenwashing our Future and it coveres the lesser-known facts from banks quietly shelving their \u201ecarbon credit\u201coperations to ESG funds being shut down by the hundreds, even major players like HSBC have abandoned \u201ecarbon credit\u201ctrading. Seems like regulators are finally catching up, banning vague terms like\u00a0\u201cclimate neutral\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and demanding proof behind the promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s becoming clear that \u201cgreen\u201d finance may be built on very shaky ground\u2026the signs are hard to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My blog is not about being anti-environment but rather about being honest and pro-environment. The only way forward is through truth, accountability, and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenwashing is no longer just a corporate PR problem, it has become a systemic delusion.<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We want to feel good. We want simple stories. We want to be told we are solving climate related issues by checking the right ESG boxes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the unpopular truth is this: We cannot buy our way to sustainability with carbon credits. Real solutions require real energy, real accountability, and real trade-offs\u2026and until we are honest about that, we are not saving the planet, we are just telling an expensive fairy tale.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading the full blog here:<\/strong> Greenwashing our future: Who is NOT benefiting?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s get one thing straight:\u00a0nothing\u00a0is or can ever be \u201cnet-zero.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":410854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"Explore how greenwashing misrepresents corporate sustainability efforts and the true impact on our planet. Discover the unpopular truth today!","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Unmasking Greenwashing: The Truth Behind Net-Zero Claims","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691839158,691839159,691839161,691818229,691819451,691818154,691839160],"class_list":{"0":"post-410844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-green-solution-2","9":"tag-green-technology-2","10":"tag-carbon-credit-2","11":"tag-esg","12":"tag-greenwashing","13":"tag-net-zero","14":"tag-trading-emissions","16":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQMDwrIa0MWQhe8ZPNH2fTI-zF8UVJP-kpMHgeUukyHJEyP5AKXd44jh5S1-TEIRdtKX7GLIuQfTg0zRDAQHqUcaTS2Wd4oNf_hTxZbLqFke7jO4tJzEx8TKm3S4gQm_-1.jpeg?fit=1672%2C969&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1ISw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":231370,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=231370","url_meta":{"origin":410844,"position":0},"title":"\u201cGreenhushing\u201d Joins Greenwashing (woke firms in legal peril?)","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"28\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cFear among corporate firms of being called out on misleading and or exaggerated environmental and sustainability claims is growing as regulators clamp down and hold companies to account over greenwashing.\u201d","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-956.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-956.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-956.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-956.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-956.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":223647,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=223647","url_meta":{"origin":410844,"position":1},"title":"Gray Greenwashing: Is Regulation Next?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Voluntary Carbon Market has produced some of the most egregious examples of\u00a0#greenwashing\u00a0on record and is synonymous with a lack of integrity. Voluntary Schemes do not work and are a distraction from reducing carbon to displacing responsibility for carbon emissions.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/00greenwashing125.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/00greenwashing125.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/00greenwashing125.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/00greenwashing125.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/00greenwashing125.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":305393,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=305393","url_meta":{"origin":410844,"position":2},"title":"New York AG Sues Beef Producer","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"29\/02\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"New York Attorney General Letitia James today filed a\u00a0lawsuit against JBS USA Food Company and JBS USA Food Company Holdings (JBS USA), the American subsidiary of the world\u2019s largest producer of beef products, for misleading the public about its environmental impact.","rel":"","context":"In \"Beef production\"","block_context":{"text":"Beef production","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=beef-production"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0greenwashing.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0greenwashing.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0greenwashing.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0greenwashing.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0greenwashing.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":251130,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=251130","url_meta":{"origin":410844,"position":3},"title":"SMH: Radio Silence Replaces Greenwashing Claims","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Radio silence replaces greenwashing claims","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0pinocchio-nose-girl.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0pinocchio-nose-girl.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0pinocchio-nose-girl.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0pinocchio-nose-girl.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0pinocchio-nose-girl.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":220894,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=220894","url_meta":{"origin":410844,"position":4},"title":"Former Bank of England Governor\u2019s Net Zero Asset Alliance Crumbling","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"27\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Members are ditching former Bank of England Governor\u00a0Mark Carney\u2019s\u00a0Net Zero Asset Alliance, amidst claims of greenwashing and fears of legal exposure.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1291.png?fit=750%2C485&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1291.png?fit=750%2C485&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1291.png?fit=750%2C485&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1291.png?fit=750%2C485&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":288384,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=288384","url_meta":{"origin":410844,"position":5},"title":"SEC Rule on ESG Reporting: Going Too\u00a0Far?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/11\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"From Science Matters By\u00a0Ron Clutz Based on a non-fiction book of the same name by historian Cornelius Ryan, A Bridge Too Far is a 1977 epic war film depicting Operation Market Garden, a failed Allied operation using paratroopers to secure three bridges over three key rivers in Nazi-occupied Netherlands during\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/sec-logo-2-main.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/sec-logo-2-main.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/sec-logo-2-main.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/sec-logo-2-main.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/sec-logo-2-main.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=410844"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":410858,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410844\/revisions\/410858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/410854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=410844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=410844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=410844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}