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Is sustainable fashion a myth?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Greta Thunberg accused a large investment management firm of greenwashing.</li><li>Thunberg decided not to speak at a book festival as a result. </li></ul>Greta Thunberg will no longer appear at a large Scottish book festival this week, saying she does not want to be "associated with events" connected to the fossil fuel industry.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/greta-thunberg-leaders-only-pretend-to-care-about-climate-crisis-2021-11">The climate activist</a> was set to appear at the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/woman-birthday-traveled-london-edinburgh-scotland-local-buses-2023-2">Edinburgh</a> International Book Festival, starting August 12, for an event called "Greta Thunberg: It's Not Too Late to Change the World," but said Friday she would no longer attend, accusing the main sponsor, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-picks-investing-tips-strategy-bear-market-tech-baillie-gifford-2022-7">Baillie Gifford</a>, an investment management firm based in the UK, of "greenwashing." Greenwashing refers to a phenomenon of companies or firms that outwardly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tell-if-companies-greenwashing-investments-2022-2#:~:text=Greenwashing%20refers%20to%20companies%20or,fake%20brush%2C%22%20he%20said.">market themselves as environmentally </a>conscious but, in practice, fail to live up to those standards. An example is when critics accused Coca-Cola and the United Nations of greenwashing the 2022 COP27 climate talks, citing plastic pollution from the <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25102022/coke-sponsoring-cop27-is-the-definition-of-greenwashing-activists-say/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">company's products.</a>Fast-fashion companies <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-fashion-christmas-shopping-clothes-returns-shein-zara-waste-mountain-2022-12">like H&amp;M</a> and Zara also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boohoo-pretty-little-thing-slammed-kourtney-kardashian-greenwashing-sustainability-2022-9">get accused of greenwashing</a> for promoting recycling initiatives while millions of tons of their polyester and nylon clothes end up in landfills."As a climate activist I cannot attend an event which receives sponsorship from Baillie Gifford, who invest heavily in the fossil fuel industry," Thunberg <a href="https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/press-release/edinburgh-international-book-festival-announce-cancellation-of-event-with-greta-thunberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a statement released through the festival's website</a>. "Greenwashing efforts by the fossil fuel industry, including sponsorship of cultural events, allow them to keep the social license to continue operating. I cannot and do not want to be associated with events that accept this kind of sponsorship."In response to Thunberg's statement, Baillie Gifford said it was not "a significant fossil fuel investor" and that "only 2% of our clients' money is invested in companies with some business related to fossil fuels." Thunberg's decision to opt out of the festival comes after an investigative news site in Scotland known as <a href="https://theferret.scot/book-festival-sponsor-investments-fossil-fuel-firms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Ferret</a> reported that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-growth-stocks-to-buy-luxury-goods-investing-baillie-gifford-2023-5">Baillie Gifford's investments</a> tied to the fossil fuel industry (or firms that profit from it) total up to $4.5 billion. Nick Barley, the festival's director, responded in the same statement, defending the firm's support of the book festival. "I share Greta's view that in all areas of society, the rate of progress is not enough," Barley wrote. "However, in applauding Greta for standing by her principles, we too must stand by ours."He added: "The Book Festival exists to give a platform for debate and discussion around key issues affecting humanity today - including the climate emergency…We strongly believe that Baillie Gifford are part of the solution to the climate emergency."This is not the first time the investment firm has been criticized for its holdings in the fossil fuel industry. In 2020, <a href="https://theferret.scot/baillie-gifford-hypocrisy-fossil-fuel-investments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Ferret also published a story</a> highlighting the company's shares in fossil fuel companies.

Greta Thunberg says she will no longer speak at a climate event, accusing a sponsor of greenwashing by investing in companies tied to the fossil fuel industry

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Canadian gas company Enbridge <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230301005094/en/Divert-Inc.-Announces-Transformative-1-Billion-Infrastructure-Development-Agreement-With-Enbridge-Inc.-Solidifying-its-Leadership-in-Solving-the-Wasted-Food-Crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pledged</a> up to $1 billion to a US firm turning food waste into energy.</li><li>Energy made from waste can displace fossil fuels, but its climate benefits are debated.</li></ul>This article is part of Insider's weekly newsletter on sustainability, written by Catherine Boudreau, senior sustainability reporter. <a href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/click/639a388c36f47a829b0ccf3f/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYnVzaW5lc3NpbnNpZGVyLmNvbS9zdWJzY3JpcHRpb24vbmV3c2xldHRlci9pbnNpZGVyLXN1c3RhaW5hYmlsaXR5/62616365333b7cf6e7074d68Bfb7029c5" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow sponsored">Sign up here</a>.Oil and gas companies <a href="https://bcse.org/images/2023%20Factbook/2023%20BCSE%20BNEF%20Sustainable%20Energy%20in%20America%20Factbook.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">see a green opportunity</a> from food waste like rotting spinach but some climate advocates say it's more like greenwashing. The Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230301005094/en/Divert-Inc.-Announces-Transformative-1-Billion-Infrastructure-Development-Agreement-With-Enbridge-Inc.-Solidifying-its-Leadership-in-Solving-the-Wasted-Food-Crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said it would</a> invest up to $1 billion to Divert, a US tech company founded 15 years ago that turns food waste from <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220824005268/en/Divert-Inc.-Announces-Significant-Business-Momentum-Accelerates-Mission-to-Protect-the-Value-of-Food" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thousands of grocery stores</a> into renewable natural gas, or RNG. Divert plans to expand its food waste-to-RNG operations across the US over the next eight years, said CEO and cofounder Ryan Begin. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd_QXtyW0Is" target="_blank" rel="noopener">company's software</a> tracks retailers' food waste and Divert then recovers what can be donated to food banks. The company funnels the rest into its anaerobic digesters to create energy. The plan is to build 30 plants, enough to manage 5% of US food waste; Divert now handles about a half percent. "We're hyper focused on reducing food waste," Begin said. "Enbridge is focused on the energy transition and RNG is a powerful way to get there." Making gas from waste can <a href="https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/renewable-natural-gas-climate-strategy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">avoid greenhouse gas emissions</a> that seep out of landfills. The RNG can then displace fossil fuels in cars, trucks, and electric power markets, but some climate advocates aren't convinced. After all, RNG is still primarily methane, which has up to 80 times the global warming power of carbon dioxide."We can't keep burning gas if we're going to meet global climate targets," said Cara Bottorff, managing senior analyst for the Sierra Club. "Research by the gas industry itself shows that RNG can only meet a small fraction of gas demand. It's also a very costly way to come up with an energy source. We already have a cheaper solution that's proven: electrification." An <a href="https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/renewable-natural-gas-climate-strategy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis by the World Resources Institute</a>, a research nonprofit, found that RNG made from food waste or landfills and manure pits that weren't already controlling methane had promising climate benefits. While RNG can't displace enough fossil fuels to meet long-term climate goals, it can play a "significant complementary role" by replacing gas in heavy-duty trucking, heating for existing buildings and other hard-to-decarbonize industries.Bottorff said Enbridge's investment in Divert is "textbook greenwashing" because it represents a small portion of Enbridge's business.Enbridge's <a href="https://enbridge.gcs-web.com/static-files/45bc6d58-3f0a-4a6d-93ff-7ff8b3faa69c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">latest financial report shows</a> it's secured $7.5 billion in gas-expansion projects through 2028, including pipelines and terminals to boost exports to Europe and Asia. About $2.5 billion is secured in offshore wind power in France through 2025, and the company has <a href="https://www.enbridge.com/about-us/renewable-energy#:~:text=Today%2C%20Enbridge%20is%20one%20of,operations%20(265%20MW%20gross%20capacity)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invested in dozens of onshore wind and solar projects</a>. Jon Harding, a spokesperson for Enbridge, told Insider in an email that the company plans to invest closer to $4 billion in renewables and low-carbon solutions through 2025.During an investor call Wednesday, Enbridge officials emphasized that while they plan to pursue lower-carbon strategies, gas will still be needed for decades to come for heavy industry and to help move away from coal, which is dirtier than gas.Enbridge also <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/02/14/news/enbridge-ontario-gas-expansion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked Ontario regulators to approve rate hikes</a> on its customers to fund a $16 billion expansion of gas pipelines across the province. The company <a href="https://www.enbridge.com/~/media/Enb/Documents/About%20Us/Net_Zero_by_2050.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050</a>, but that target only applies to its own operations, not the oil and gas burned by its customers. Enbridge reported that those so-called Scope 3 emissions account for the majority of its emissions.Caitlin Tessin, Enbridge's vice president of strategy and market innovation, told Insider the company is working within its supply chain to lower Scope 3 emissions. She added that the company wants to keep its infrastructure in use and is trying to decarbonize the system as much as possible."Diverting food waste from a landfill and putting it in a digester is absolutely more environmentally friendly and has a lower carbon intensity than most fuels," she said. <div type="image" title="One of Divert's anaerobic digestion facilities" height="1814" width="2419" msid="98374402" hostid="261"></div>Divert, for its part, said that its expansion once completed could avert 400,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, based on a third-party life cycle assessment of its current operations. That's the equivalent of driving more than 86,000 gas-powered cars for a year, according to the EPA.There's no doubt the RNG sector is gaining some ground. States like California, Washington and Oregon, along with Europe, subsidize its production through their climate policies – making it an attractive play for fossil fuel companies. BP <a href="https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/news-and-insights/press-releases/bp-completes-acquisition-of-archaea-energy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquired Archaea Energy for $4.1 billion</a>, which has 50 landfill-to-gas sites in the US, and <a href="https://www.shell.com/media/news-and-media-releases/2022/shell-to-acquire-renewable-natural-gas-producer-nature-energy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shell plans to acquire</a> the Denmark-based Nature Energy for $2 billion. Kinder Morgan, the largest gas pipeline company in North America, also plans to invest $1.1 billion in RNG by 2024. Asset management giant BlackRock <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blackrock-renewable-natural-gas-infrastructure-deal-strategy-2022-8">also acquired RNG producer Vanguard</a> for $700 million.

Oil and gas companies are investing billions to make energy from waste but some climate groups call it greenwashing

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/leland-melvin-black-nasa-astronaut-police-attempted-arrest-bill-nye-2020-6">Bill Nye</a> teamed up with The <keyword id="12109002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="coca-cola" source="Orion">Coca-Cola</keyword> Company to make an animated video promoting <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recycling-doesnt-keep-plastic-out-of-stomachs-lungs-or-blood-2022-4">recycling</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coca-cola-spikes-law-firm-diversity-policy-black-lawyers-2022-3">Coca-Cola</a> is one of the world's biggest <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-discovered-in-human-blood-for-the-first-time-2022-3">plastic</a> polluters, and <keyword id="12063226" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="recycling" source="Orion">recycling</keyword> isn't solving that problem.</li></ul>Famous <keyword id="11896083" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="science" source="Orion">science</keyword> educator <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-nye-angrily-tells-everyone-to-fight-climate-change-2019-5">Bill Nye</a> has teamed up with The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coca-cola-fresca-mixed-canned-cocktail-corona-constellation-brands-2022-1">Coca-Cola</a> Company for some not-very-scientific education.Nye, best known for his TV show, "<keyword id="13583133" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bill-nye" source="Orion">Bill Nye</keyword> the Science Guy," appears in a Coca-Cola stop-motion <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HRadzzvQNY">video</a> posted to YouTube Tuesday and originally reported in <a href="https://gizmodo.com/bill-nye-sells-out-shills-for-coca-cola-on-plastic-bot-1848763404">Gizmodo</a>. Nye narrates as an animated doll of himself with an upside-down <keyword id="12367240" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic" source="Orion">plastic</keyword> bottle for a head and a Coca-Cola label for a bowtie.<div type="image" title="bill nye headshot" height="2488" width="1658" msid="90748801" hostid="261"></div>"If we can recover and recycle plastic, we can not only keep it from becoming trash, we can use that plastic again and again. It's an amazing material," Nye says, popping off his plastic-bottle head in one hand, and presenting a Coca-Cola bottle in the other."What's more is that, when we use recycled material, we also reduce our carbon footprint. What's not to love? So the good people at The Coca-Cola Company are dedicating themselves to addressing our global plastic waste problem. They know they have a responsibility to help solve this issue, and their goal: create a world without waste," he continues.Then he explains how recycling a bottle works, as Coca-Cola runs a cutesy animation of the process.In reality, recycling doesn't create a world without waste. Plastic bottles can only be recycled a few times before going to the landfill or getting lost in the ocean. Turning them into new products only delays their disposal or incineration.Recycling can reduce the amount of new plastic produced, and therefore reduce the amount of carbon emitted during that process, but it doesn't do so on a very large scale. Because recycled plastic is more expensive and lower quality than new plastic, experts say that it's unlikely to ever overtake plastic production.Plastic pollution abounds — from the depths of the Mariana Trench to the top of Mount Everest — and Coca-Cola is one of the worst offenders. The company produces about 3 million metric tons of plastic packaging each year, according to the company's reports to the <a href="https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/global-commitment/overview">Ellen MacArthur Foundation</a>. That's the equivalent of 200,000 bottles a minute, making it the top plastic producer out of the 130 businesses that report their numbers to the foundation. An <a href="https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/2021/10/25/the-coca-cola-company-and-pepsico-named-top-plastic-polluters-for-the-fourth-year-in-a-row/">audit</a> by the NGO coalition Break Free from Plastic has ranked Coca-Cola as the world's top plastic polluter for four years in a row.The company has pledged to use at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030.Coca-Cola did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for Nye did not immediately respond either.<h2>Recycling has only made a small dent in plastic production</h2><div type="image" title="coca cola bottles in plastic packaging" height="1684" width="2246" msid="90748804" hostid="261"></div>Less than 10% of the 7 billion metric tons of plastic waste worldwide has ever been recycled, according to a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128178805000025?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">2020 study</a> cited by the <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/36963/POLSOL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">UN Environment Programme</a>.Even when recycling happens, it doesn't prevent that plastic from becoming garbage or pollution. Bottles like Coca-Cola's are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which means they can be recycled more times than other plastics. Some companies claim PET can be recycled infinitely. In reality, just <a href="https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data#:~:text=The%20recycling%20rate%20of%20PET,was%2029.3%20percent%20in%202018.">29%</a> of PET bottles and jars were recycled in 2018.Each round of recycling degrades the quality of most plastics, so bottles are often "<a href="https://oceana.org/blog/recycling-myth-month-plastic-bottle-you-thought-you-recycled-may-have-been-downcycled-instead/">downcycled</a>" into fibers or wood replacements.The market for this recycled plastic is limited, since it's often cheaper to make new plastic from oil or gas, according to an <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">investigation by NPR and PBS</a>.That investigation also probed the origins of recycling, and found that plastic-producing companies spent millions of dollars to make the practice popular. The companies' own scientists, however, told them that recycling wouldn't work on a large scale."Making recycling work was a way to keep their products in the marketplace," Ron Liesemer, a former DuPont manager who led the industry's recycling campaigns in the 1980s and 90s, told <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/plastic-wars/transcript/">PBS and NPR</a>. "It improves the image of the material."By 2015, the quantity of plastic produced each year had <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution">increased tenfold</a> from 1971. Plastic production is expected to double by 2040 and triple by 2050, according to <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_New_Plastics_Economy.pdf">the World Economic Forum</a>.<h2>Recycling doesn't stop microplastic pollution or protect human health</h2><div type="image" title="toddler child drinks bottled water" height="1600" width="2133" msid="90748806" hostid="261"></div>Even if every plastic product was recycled, it wouldn't prevent plastics from polluting our environment and bodies. Years of research show that plastic products we use every day are shedding microscopic bits and leaching invisible chemicals.Studies have found microplastics in humans' <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/health-wellness/how-to-eat-less-plastic-microplastics-in-food-water-a8899165110/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">food</a>, drinking <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241516198" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">water</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-in-baby-poop-study-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">poop</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020322297" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">placentas</a>, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389421010888" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">lungs</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/opinion/plastic-air-pollution.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">drifting</a> through the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thousands-of-tons-of-microplastics-are-falling-from-the-sky/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">air</a> we breathe, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-discovered-in-human-blood-for-the-first-time-2022-3">flowing through some people's veins</a>.In fact, recycled bottles may leach even more chemicals into their beverages than fresh plastic bottles do, a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389422001984c">study</a> in the Journal of Hazardous Materials found last month.A 2019 <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.9b01517" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">analysis</a> estimated that the average American ingested about 50,000 microplastic particles each year and inhaled about the same amount. Another study from 2021 <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33130380/#:~:text=Subsequently%2C%20we%20estimated%20that%20globally,value%20relevant%20to%20human%20toxicology." target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">estimated</a> that the average person ingested a credit card's worth of plastic each week.The health consequences of that exposure aren't fully clear. Research has linked common chemicals in plastics — such as bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (<a href="https://www.epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">PFAS</a>) — to increased risk of cancer, issues with fertility and development, and hormone disruption. One <a href="https://www.meduniwien.ac.at/web/en/ueber-uns/news/default-0f889c8985-1/gesundheitsrisiko-durch-mikro-und-nanoplastik-in-lebensmitteln/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">study</a> suggested that microplastics in the human gut could trigger harmful inflammation and start processes associated with cancer. <a href="https://news.fsu.edu/news/science-technology/2021/04/19/microplastics-and-human-health-fsu-researchers-find-exposure-to-microplastics-may-alter-cellular-function/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Another</a> found that the particles altered cell function in human lung cells.No matter how much plastic Coca-Cola recycles, as long as it keeps using PET bottles, it will be part of the problem.

Bill Nye says Coca-Cola is recycling its way to 'a world without waste.' He's wrong.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Boohoo is one of several fast fashion brands under investigation for sustainability practices.</li><li>Critics claim recent efforts, like debuting more environmentally friendly collections, are acts of greenwashing. </li></ul>Fast-fashion brands are attempting to appeal to an increasingly eco-friendly audience, but critics aren't so sure their methods have the purest intentions.UK-based fashion brand Pretty Little Thing and its parent company Boohoo are among the latest retailers facing scrutiny on claims they are misleading consumers that they are environmentally friendly, despite their reputations and investigations that say otherwise. Boohoo was the latest to draw ire, after the fast-fashion giant announced a "sustainability and style" collaboration with Kourtney Kardashian Barker earlier this month. The 46-piece collection of garments is made from "recycled fibers," according <a href="https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/boohoo-announces-ambassador-kourtney-kardashian-barker-814363043.html">to a release from Boohoo.</a>The partnership was met with heavy criticism on social media, <a href="https://www.insider.com/kourtney-kardashian-criticized-for-sustainable-boohoo-collab-2022-9">Insider's Maria Noyen reported,</a> as users slammed both Kardashian Barker and Boohoo for greenwashing — or "the act or practice of making (something) appear to be more environmentally friendly or less environmentally damaging than it really is," as <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/greenwashing">defined</a> by Merriam-Webster.Several users pointed out that the company had previously been the subject of a <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/boohoos-sweatshop-suppliers-they-only-exploit-us-they-make-huge-profits-and-pay-us-peanuts-lwj7d8fg2">2019 investigation by the Sunday Times</a>, which found Boohoo's UK factory workers were paid only £3.50, or $4.37, an hour.The controversy comes on the heels of a separate investigation into potential greenwashing at Boohoo, among other fast-fashion retailers, conducted by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in July, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jul/29/asos-boohoo-george-at-asda-investigated-over-eco-friendly-claims-sustainability">The Guardian reported</a>."People who want to 'buy green' should be able to do so confident that they aren't being misled," Sarah Cardell, the interim CMA chief executive, told The Guardian. "Eco-friendly and sustainable products can play a role in tackling climate change, but only if they are genuine." Pretty Little Thing also faced greenwashing accusations of its own after announcing its "Pretty Little Thing Marketplace" feature in August. The new app allows users to buy and sell pre-owned garments from PLT and other fashion brands, <a href="https://www.pltmarketplace.com/">according to the official website</a>.Much like the reaction to PLT's parent company over the Kardashian Barker collection, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/pretty-little-thing-has-a-secondhand-shop-but-is-it-sustainable_uk_630de8fde4b0da54bae29434">social media and critics users were similarly not happy</a> with the brand's efforts to appear more sustainable, HuffPost reported."Their products are trend-led and ultra-fast, meaning they're specifically not designed to be resold or have any longevity whatsoever, so resale is never on the cards for those items," Sustainable fashion editor Brett Staniland told HuffPost. He continued: "The most sustainable thing they can do is just cease operations altogether."Boohoo and PLT aren't the only fast fashion brands getting called out for their attempts to go green. Swedish brand H&amp;M <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2022/08/h-and-m-greenwashing-fashion.html">is being sued by a New York student</a> who alleged she overpaid for clothes from the brand's "Conscious Collection" under the guise the products were more eco-friendly than they actually were.

Fast-fashion brands Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing are getting slammed for greenwashing after critics call sustainability claims misleading

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="6362470" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="sec" source="Orion">SEC</keyword> wants fund managers to back up their environmental and social claims.</li><li>Environmental, social, and governance funds have grown rapidly, becoming a $3 trillion market.</li></ul>The Securities and Exchange Commission wants to rein in ESG funds that exaggerate their environmental and social bona fides as trillions of dollars flow into the market. The <a href="https://www.sec.gov/files/ia-6034-fact-sheet.pdf">agency proposed</a> requiring funds that say they have an environmental, social, and governance strategy to back up their claims by disclosing how they select companies and vote at annual meetings. Funds with an environmental focus would also have to report the greenhouse-gas emissions linked to the portfolio. The proposal comes as ESG funds balloon into a $3 trillion market with little transparency or rules around what it means, fueling misleading claims, greenwashing, and confusion for investors, the SEC said. "When I think about this topic, I'm reminded of walking down the aisle of a grocery store and seeing a product like fat-free milk. What does 'fat free' mean? Well, in that case, you can see objective figures, like grams of fat, which are detailed on the nutrition label," SEC Chair Gary Gensler said on Wednesday during a meeting to consider the proposal. "When it comes to <keyword id="8374461" type="General" weightage="60" keywordseo="esg-investing" source="Orion">ESG investing</keyword>, though, there's currently a huge range of what asset managers might disclose or mean by their claims." The SEC has been preparing for a crackdown on companies, asset managers, and advisers that say they are incorporating issues such as climate change and diversity and inclusion into their business strategy. Last year, the agency <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2021-42">formed</a> a Climate and ESG Task Force to scrutinize those claims, and in April it proposed that public companies disclose their carbon footprints and any plans to shrink them. On Monday, the SEC <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-86">announced</a> its first ESG-related settlement with the asset-management arm of BNY Mellon, which said that all of its investments in certain mutual funds had undergone an ESG quality review — even though that wasn't always the case. BNY Mellon Investment Advisor paid a $1.5 million fine, and the SEC said the firm had taken remedial steps, including changing certain processes and policies. The fine and SEC's latest rule marks the end of a month that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/esg-sustainable-investing-hsbc-backlash-2022-5">rocked the ESG market</a>, which is increasingly under fire from red-state officials and some top executives who argue that it's being used to fulfill a left-wing political agenda. Supporters say ESG funds are delivering higher returns and can steer capital into more sustainable investments. The ratings giant S&amp;P Global <a href="https://www.indexologyblog.com/2022/05/17/the-rebalancing-act-of-the-sp-500-esg-index/">last week removed Tesla</a> from its ESG Index as part of an annual review, citing employee accusations of racial discrimination and poor working conditions at a factory in Fremont, California, as well as the electric-vehicle maker's handling of a government investigation into deaths and injuries linked to its autopilot cars. Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1526958110023245829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1526960512231153664%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketwatch.com%2Fstory%2Ftesla-dumped-by-s-p-esg-index-and-musk-cries-label-is-a-scam-11652893098">tweeted</a> that "ESG is a scam," adding that the oil giant ExxonMobil still made S&amp;P's index. Ken Pucker, a senior lecturer at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, told Insider that while an ESG disclosure framework was important, he was skeptical that the market would lead to better environmental and social outcomes. "If the outcome we're seeking is planetary welfare, such as mitigating climate change and water scarcity, do I think enhanced disclosure will suffice? The answer is unequivocally no," he said. "I'm concerned the growth of ESG investment will dampen the need for regulatory intervention. Will government think we don't need to fix the rules because the investment community has grown ESG assets?"

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