The environmental scientist, whose book Not the End of the World offers a data-based analysis of the climate crisis, on being informed and engaged without succumbing to despair
What’s been most prominent over that time period is greenwashing. Companies are cashing in by latching onto capitalist means of exploiting the crisis. “Carbon neutrality” is almost complete horseshit when you hear it because there are now firms that dish out that label while outsourcing the promise to plant enough trees to offset, say, BP’s or GAP’s carbon footprint.
Remember the constant child and slave labor exposes from the 90s/early 2000s? The same companies kept getting caught, and eventually they just outsourced to some no name company who in turn hired the dangerous factories full of children. That way, GAP could say, “we had absolutely zero knowledge of child labor. During our investigation we have found X company to be at fault and we have severed ties with said company.” Meanwhile, that company changes its name or they go right back to getting clothes for $0.02/garment and then still getting to act surprised there is abuse.
The same shit is happening with these “carbon offset” claims. “We have been promised by X company that at the end of every quarter our emissions will be offset by Y number of new trees planted.” There isn’t enough land on earth to plant as many trees as we would need to offset our still claiming emissions. It’s smoke and mirrors. It’s all marketing. We are brainwashed by how many companies we hear making lots and lots of noise about the fact that they are green, their products are green, you’re green for buying them. It’s nonsense. Consumerism won’t save us. Drastic action that quickly dismantles the structure responsible for climate change would.
There is a lot of greenwashing…and a number of countries have emissions that have started falling too. It’s not enough to stabilize things yet, but that’s not surprising; it was always going to be a decades-long fight to get emissions down.
What’s been most prominent over that time period is greenwashing. Companies are cashing in by latching onto capitalist means of exploiting the crisis. “Carbon neutrality” is almost complete horseshit when you hear it because there are now firms that dish out that label while outsourcing the promise to plant enough trees to offset, say, BP’s or GAP’s carbon footprint.
Remember the constant child and slave labor exposes from the 90s/early 2000s? The same companies kept getting caught, and eventually they just outsourced to some no name company who in turn hired the dangerous factories full of children. That way, GAP could say, “we had absolutely zero knowledge of child labor. During our investigation we have found X company to be at fault and we have severed ties with said company.” Meanwhile, that company changes its name or they go right back to getting clothes for $0.02/garment and then still getting to act surprised there is abuse.
The same shit is happening with these “carbon offset” claims. “We have been promised by X company that at the end of every quarter our emissions will be offset by Y number of new trees planted.” There isn’t enough land on earth to plant as many trees as we would need to offset our still claiming emissions. It’s smoke and mirrors. It’s all marketing. We are brainwashed by how many companies we hear making lots and lots of noise about the fact that they are green, their products are green, you’re green for buying them. It’s nonsense. Consumerism won’t save us. Drastic action that quickly dismantles the structure responsible for climate change would.
There is a lot of greenwashing…and a number of countries have emissions that have started falling too. It’s not enough to stabilize things yet, but that’s not surprising; it was always going to be a decades-long fight to get emissions down.