The Dark Side of Carbon Emissions — Corporate Carbon Washing

Imagine a pollution cap on a city. The government decides that the total amount of carbon dioxide that can be emitted is a fixed number, known as a cap.

Photo credit: iStock

By Little Green Myths and Marcus Griswold

Hey, have you ever seen a brand’s flashy advertisement about how they’re “going green”?

Maybe they boast about planting trees for every product sold, or they release an annual report filled with charts and graphs showing how much they’ve reduced their carbon footprint. You probably think, “Wow, that’s great! I’m doing my part by supporting this company.”

But what if I told you that sometimes, this green image is just a carefully crafted illusion? This practice has a name: “carbon washing.”

A recent study from China reveals a startling new reality: the very tools we’ve created to fight climate change, like carbon emissions trading systems, and even the digital technology meant to make things more transparent, might be making this problem even worse.

What Is a Carbon Emissions Trading System?

Imagine a pollution cap on a city. The government decides that the total amount of…