Companies are becoming ever craftier in their efforts to pose as more climate-friendly than they are

The name of the ruse: a taxonomy of greenwashing

Mechanism

• Misleading information
• Attention deflection
• Attention reduction (absolute)
• Attention reduction (peer-overshadowed)
• Attention timing

Classic application

• Misleading claims made by firms themselves
• Greenshifting of blame on to demanding consumers
• Limited disclosure of worthy ambitions
• Decent disclosure but substandard vis à vis peers
• Delayed disclosure

Sophisticated application

• Greenlabelling by third parties, which certify firms’ performance
• Greenlighting of good-news case studies
• Fuller disclosure, but with greenhushing of details
• Greencrowding: substandard disclosure en masse
• Greenrinsing: headline-grabbing targets get gradually diluted

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