In November 2021 Boris Johnson made much publicity by hosting the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26). The incompetence of governments and politicians is hardly new, but due to the serious nature of the current situation I am staggered by the level of incompetence environmental issue have now reached.
There are various calls for carbon reduction, but despite the millions of £’s spent on environmental issues and awareness, and the millions of miles politicians have flown to many many conferences on this subject, it hasn’t yet been agreed how carbon generation should be calculated. So at the moment you can probably claim whatever you want, as many company’s do. I hope their shareholders don’t have grandchildren as this could be quite difficult to explain.
As the pressure now builds on governments and multinational businesses to improve their performance to avoid fines, “Greenwashing” and “Carbon Offsetting” seem to be more popular than actually making improvements.
Greenwashing
“Greenwashing” is simply amending your company’s marketing to over emphasise the few positive environmental improvements you have made, while simply ignoring the negative aspects and carrying on destroying the planet.
Shell have been so committed to this practice that UK comedian Joe Lycett even made a special program focussing on how they’d done it. Try searching for it on YouTube, it’s a good watch and clearly shows how big businesses mislead the public and government bodies on their real activities.
Carbon Offsetting
“Carbon Offsetting” is, to me, one of the most ridiculous practices political bodies around the world are allowing. Put simply, if you are a large industrial organisation who prefer profit to making sure your grandchildren will survive to over 30, then you ignore all the warnings and legislation, and carry on as you always have. You then calculate how much CO2 you produce, and pay someone to plant trees which counter that quantity, or pay someone with a positive environmental impact and “buy” that impact off them.
Meanwhile you continue to pollute the world, probably best to invest some of that cash in space travel as soon or later you will need to leave the planet, but then hey, your polluting will enable you to do that!
What a pity Boris’s conference did nothing to ban these two strategies, but sadly it looks like money wins again wisdom.
But further down the food chain SME’s are now being encouraged to make the changes the more powerful organisations are avoiding. Tools like ISO 14001 are a very cost effect way of managing down your carbon generation and potentially help saving the planet. What a pity that those with the cash to make a real difference are more interested in side stepping such a vital issue.
Have a look here for the failure being made:
Energy Firms Are Going ‘Green’ by Offloading Dirty Coal Plants | WIRED UK)
Bin collections: Plans to change recycling risks chaos, say councils – BBC News
Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest certifier are worthless, analysis shows | Carbon offsetting | The Guardian
In the meantime, if you’d like a cost effective and pragmatic way of improving your environmental impact, avoiding fines and extending the life of the planet, why not contact us and ask about ISO 14001 certification? We may not be able to influence the wielders of global power, but we can do our little bit, and at least improve the impact of our own activities.
Contact us HERE for more information!