While many of the world's largest companies have made climate commitments, too many of them are greenwashing their climate progress with carbon offsets instead of working to reduce their emissions. A company can't cancel out the damages of its climate pollution simply because someone else reduces pollution from their own activities. The only way to truly offset climate pollution is to fund activities that actually remove at least an equivalent amount of additional carbon from the atmosphere for an equal or greater duration.
The problem is too many offsets don't take additional carbon out of the atmosphere; in fact, some offsets just fund projects that were already going forward or preserve forests that were already well-protected. In other words, they don't do anything to remove or reduce the climate pollution being spewed into the atmosphere.
Companies need to tell the truth about their climate commitments -- and consumers need to know whether they're actually doing what it takes to reduce their climate footprint or misleading them into believing they're greener than they are.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is eager to stop greenwashing in its tracks, and they want to hear from people like you! We'd love to hear if you think you've been misled about the climate friendliness of a company's products and whether it influenced your purchase decision. Fill out the form below with the name of the company, its marketing claims, and how those claims affected your decision.
Thank you in advance for sharing your experiences!