The Senate Inquiry into Greenwashing has heard evidence that the Australian Government is “facilitating” corporate greenwashing. The corporate watchdog has not yet signed off on its “Climate Active” trademark logo, which up to 500 companies use to promote their green credentials.
Ampol, Origin, Qantas, Telstra, Commbank, and Coles are reportedly among the companies that have used the scheme. The scheme allows brands to label their products as “Climate Active certified” if they measure, reduce, and report on their emissions in exchange for a licence fee.
The consumer regulator was asked by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to pause its certification process for the scheme because it was in the process of redoing the entire program over a lack of clarity around its rules.
Tom Leuner, the executive general manager for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said that the rules “cross-referenced” one another and, after much back-and-forth, were still unclear. He said the department was planning to overhaul the rules and review the scheme and expected to re-seek ACCC approval after that process had occurred.
Polly Hemming, climate and energy director at the Australia Institute, said that companies were still using the certification process despite the lack of formal approval. Under the current rules, companies could reportedly claim a Climate Action certification with only one carbon-neutral product. Ampol, for example, allegedly used the label because it had a single carbon-neutral petrol.
“You can’t address greenwashing by the private sector when the government’s own climate policies are facilitating some of that behaviour,” Hemming told the Senate committee. “We’ve got a government that is still subsidising fossil fuels, yet businesses are expected to make emissions reduction plans”.
“It’s cheaper to buy carbon offsets, it’s cheaper to pay a certification fee to Climate Active and buy offsets from a wind farm than it is to implement the technology [to reduce emissions] … This is what I mean by state-sponsored greenwashing,” Hemming told the Senate committee.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who chaired the inquiry, called the revelations “outrageous”.
“Australian customers are fed up with greenwashing lies. They’re fed up with walking into the supermarket and seeing an array of different products and being told lies about how environmentally friendly they are, that they’re saving animals or the climate,” she said. “We need stronger laws that ban misleading environmental claims to protect Australian consumers and the environment”.
B&T contacted Ampol, Origin, Qantas, Telstra, Commbank, and Coles to comment on the reports, but no response was received before publication.
