The REP Wrap: Canada publishes greenwashing guidance
Your weekly summary of corporate sustainability news.
The Competition Bureau Canada published long-awaited guidance to help it clampdown on greenwashing. The final version provides examples of what the government agency considers legitimate in terms of environmental claims, and confirms that the rules apply to overseas firms marketing their goods and services in Canada. The updates in the final guidance include a change in language, to clarify that green claims mustn’t be “materially false or misleading”. Originally, it said they “must be true”.
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) received more than 850 submissions to a consultation on its planned net-zero standard for companies, which closed last weekend. SBTi will consider the feedback in the next iteration of the standard, which will undergo a second consultation and a pilot test.
More than a quarter of B-Corps have said they won’t be able to retain the label because its new certification standards are not achievable. A survey by B-Corp’s parent body, B-Lab, found that 29% believed they couldn’t comply with the stricter rules, which were introduced in April to improve the credibility of the B-Corp brand. Companies with the B-Corp label are deemed to be run in a socially responsible and transparent way. More than 70% of those polled for the paper, published this week, believe the new standards are within reach.
The European Commission has confirmed it will present its 2040 climate target proposal on July 2nd, after long delays. It is expected to stick to its promise to cut net emissions by 90% compared with 1990 levels, but there is political disagreement about whether international offsets should form part of the strategy to achieve the target.
Arcelor Mittal, ENEL, Posco and Nippon Steel have all been namechecked by the Principles for Responsible Investment, in a report about shareholder engagement on human rights. The four firms are among a list of companies being targeted by PRI members keen to see them improve their track record on human rights, and the case studies outline progress over the past year.
Every dollar spent on climate adaptation drives $10.50-worth of benefits, according to new research from the World Resources Institute. The study assessed the upsides generated by 320 investments into adaptation across 12 countries over a decade. The investments included agriculture, water, infrastructure and health. The benefits are divided into avoided losses, social and environmental advantages, and the prompting of economic development.