Beware of 'greenshifting' and other forms of greenwashing

GREENWASHING has become such a widespread issue that it now has several facets. From misleading labels to shifting guilt, here are some of the specific forms that greenwashing can take, as identified by the UK-based think tank, Planet Tracker.

At a time when consumers are placing increasing importance on product labelling and origins, brands are being asked to step up to the challenge. And while some are striving to get on board, others are looking for shortcuts by relying on greenwashing. And the practice is now so widespread that it even has sub-categories, such as "greenshifting," as identified by London-based think tank Planet Tracker, which recently published a report on the subject on its website.

According to Planet Tracker's definition, "greenshifting" refers to the trend among companies to deploy campaigns whose messages "imply that the consumer is at fault and shift the blame on to them." For example, the British multinational oil and gas company, Shell, caused uproar on Twitter in November 2020, when it launched a Twitter poll, engaging directly with users of the social platform by asking them what they were "willing to change to help reduce emissions?"

Needless to say, the poll did not go down well with Twitter users, who were joined by world-famous personalities in calling out the initiative. "I’m willing to hold you accountable for lying about climate change for 30 years when you secretly knew the entire time that fossil fuels emissions would destroy our planet," tweeted the US politician, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in response to Shell's question.

The Swedish environmental activist, Greta Thunberg also posted a response: "I don’t know about you, but I sure am willing to call out the fossil fuel companies for knowingly destroying future living conditions for countless generations for profit and then trying to distract people and prevent real systemic change through endless greenwash campaigns."

From "greenlighting" to "greencrowding" and "greenlabelling"

Planet Tracker notes other practices too, such as "greenlighting," "greenlabelling" and "greencrowding." The first refers to a company's use of communications campaigns (including ads) to "spotlight a particularly green feature of its operations or products, however small, in order to draw attention away from environmentally damaging activities being conducted elsewhere." Meanwhile, "greenlabelling" refers to "green" or "sustainable" promises made on products, but where closer scrutiny soon reveals this to be misleading.

As for "greencrowding," this describes a form of greenwashing "built on the belief that you can hide in a crowd to avoid discovery," all while moving at the speed of the slowest when it comes to making progress on such issues. This can, for example, be seen with large companies that sign up to programs with ambitious environmental objectives (zero plastic, carbon neutrality, etc.), while never really meeting them. Their strategy? To blend in with the crowd and hope to go unnoticed!

Another term that makes the think tank's list is "greenhushing," which involves a company keeping quiet about pro-environmental actions. Although more ambiguous, this approach can sometimes lead to the opposite of greenwashing. This is particularly the case for small companies that are just starting out, and which do not dare to make big claims about their eco-credentials, for fear of being accused of opportunism or of not doing enough.