Greenwashing/United Kingdom

Some examples of greenwashing from the United Kingdom include:


 * Edelman lends E.ON UK a hand on the company's global warming woes
 * Green Apple Environment Awards
 * Lexus RX400

A magazine ad for the Lexus RX400h was headlined High performance. Low emissions. Zero Guilt. The world's first high-performance hybrid SUV. Category-leading low CO2 emissions. The ASA upheld the complaints it received about the ad's misleading claims.

UK Shell Ad Declared Greenwashing
In August 2008, Shell was found guilty of misleading the public over its tar sands operations. The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the company should not have used the word "sustainable" when describing its Canadian tar sands operations. The ASA ruled that the Shell ad had breached rules on substantiation, truthfulness and environmental claims.

The Shell was was from a February 2008 issue of Financial Times and accompanied Shell's financial results. The oil giant claimed that: “We invest today’s profits in tomorrow’s solutions.” Shell explained it was harnessing its technical expertise “to unlock the potential of the vast Canadian oil sands deposits”, but then added: “Continued investment in technology is one of the key ways we are able to address this challenge, and continue to secure a profitable and sustainable future.”

Shell was challenged by environmental organisation WWF. David Norman, the WWF’s director of campaigns, said: “The ASA’s decision to uphold WWF’s complaint sends a strong signal to business and industry that greenwash is unacceptable.” To celebrate its victory, WWF launched an ad campaign outside London’s Waterloo station stating “Shell can’t hide the environmental impact of their oil sand projects.”

Case studies

 * Greenwashing Examples From Australia
 * Global Greenwashing Examples
 * Greenwashing Examples From Europe
 * Greenwashing Examples From New Zealand
 * Greenwashing Examples From Canada
 * Greenwashing Examples From The United States
 * Miscellaneous Greenwashing Examples
 * Greenwashing articles from PRWatch.org

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Shell
 * Alberta's tar sands