Climate-washing

Law - regulation - environmental concerns - greenwashing.

Climate-washing is a derogatory term for the overstatement of an organisation's climate-related concerns and actions, or those of a sector.

The concept derives from - and is closely related to - greenwashing.

Climate-washing goes beyond greenwashing

"More recently, greenwashing [legal] complaints have also been brought on climate change grounds, where marketing campaigns have been alleged to mislead and/or overstate advertised performance in the context of climate change.

Plaintiffs may seek monetary damages, civil penalties, and/or injunctive relief for the harm done by misleading, greenwashed communications.

This type of climate-related greenwashing may be referred to as ‘climate-washing’, and litigation brought against it highlights the gap between state and non-state actors’ words and actions regarding climate change.

It may include claims relating to the environment, human health, economics, or other aspects of climate change.

The terms greenwashing and climate-washing have been used interchangeably.

However, a distinction can be made in that climate-washing may encompass issues that go beyond the natural environment.

This is analogous with how climate change concerns might go beyond - or be more specific than - environmental concerns."

Benjamin, Lisa; Bhargava, Akriti; Franta, Benjamin; Martínez Toral, Karla; Setzer, Joana; and Tandon, Aradhna. 2022. “Climate-Washing Litigation: Legal Liability for Misleading Climate Communications.” Policy Briefing, The Climate Social Science Network - January 2022.

See also

• Actor
• Climate change
• Climate-related financial disclosure
• Climate Social Science Network (CSSN)
• Damages
• Environmental concerns
• Ethics washing
• Greenwash
• Injunction
• Law
• Liability
• Litigation
• Plaintiff
• Regulation

External link

• “Climate-Washing Litigation: Legal Liability for Misleading Climate Communications.” Policy Briefing, The Climate Social Science Network