'Greenwashing': A new climate misinformation battleground

PARIS: Fossil fuel firms are misleading the public about their moves to cut greenhouse gases and curb climate change - and social media are hosting ads that perpetuate this"greenwashing", researchers say.Many companies have vowed to reach the"net zero" level of greenhouse gas emissions needed to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius under the Paris climate accords, the threshold established by scientists for avoiding the worst impacts.

"Until actions and investment behaviour are brought into alignment with discourse, accusations of greenwashing appear well-founded." ExxonMobil and Chevron spokespeople insisted that due to energy demand, the scenarios foreseen by the Paris deal and the IEA mean fossil fuels will have to play a part in the transition.Watchdogs also see greenwashing in environment-friendly but limited gestures by firms that campaigners say distract attention from their climate-harming operations.

New York-based greenwashing researcher Genevieve Guenther told AFP the key is to measure pledges against two standards: The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's net-zero date of 2050 and the IEA's clean 2021 energy transition roadmap. But pushing messages via social media has an outsize impact, said Melissa Aronczyk, an associate communications professor at Rutger University who has co-authored several studies on the subject.

InfluenceMap analysed thousands of documents"to build up a very detailed picture of how major companies and industry groups are engaging on climate policy and how they are trying to influence debate," said programme manager Faye Holder.

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