Shaken Not Burned

Highlighting changemakers and solutions

What we’ve been reading this week

• Italy investigates Shein over greenwashing

  The Italian antitrust agency has opened a probe into Infinite Styles Services CO. Limited, a Dublin-based firm that operates Shein’s website and app, over alleged greenwashing. The competition authority says the ultra-fast fashion retailer may be trying “to convey an image of production and commercial sustainability of its garments through generic, vague, confusing and/or misleading environmental claims.” The Chinese retail giant, which churns out thousands of new styles per week at very low prices, has been trying to clean up its image by donating to charity and establishing a circularity fund. However, its business model remains the most fundamental problem – no amount of charity donations can offset the enormous environmental and social issues of fast fashion.

• ESG is not the same as sustainability, US boards say

  A PwC survey of 520 directors at US public companies has found that most of them don’t believe ESG is the same as sustainability, reporting decreased focus on corporate sustainability strategy. Only 42% of respondents said ESG is consistently understood by other directors on their boards. With many companies backtracking on their sustainability commitments, this confusion adds fuel to the fire: if we don’t have a credible, trusted framework for companies to establish a sustainability strategy, they can let themselves off the hook or set up targets that will not contribute meaningfully to reducing their environmental and social impacts.  

• US government to invest $1.3 billion in capture carbon and storage

  The US Department of Energy has unveiled a $1.3 billion investment in capture carbon and storage (CCS). The money will be provided to support the design, stakeholder and community engagement, construction, and operation of large-scale pilots and commercial scale demonstrations, plus the development of localised carbon management networks needed for commercial scale. Campaigners have warned repeatedly of the dangers of investing in CCS: the technology is not advanced enough to capture a meaningful amount of emissions (only 0.1% of global emissions are currently captured even though CCS has been talked about and developed for decades) and it risks being used as an excuse to continue producing fossil fuels. Would the DOE money be better spent elsewhere?

• British Airways cancels private jet perks after greenwashing accusations

  In more greenwashing news, the UK’s flag carrier has U-turned on a new benefit for staff: private jet flights in partnership with Platoon Aviation. It came days after the company invested £9 million in carbon dioxide removal credits, becoming the UK’s biggest purchaser. Following greenwashing accusations and inconsistencies with its “Better World” strategy, BA told The Times it changed its mind. A small victory as aviation continues to inch at a glacial pace towards decarbonisation. 

• Cow poo helps with storing carbon in soil

  Even though livestock is downright terrible for the environment (and often animal welfare), farms with a mixture of arable crops and livestock store around 30% more carbon within their soil than those with only arable crops. According to research by the Soil Association Exchange, this is due to the animals’ manure, which also helps with biodiversity. Improving soil with the help of cows could be a viable option for carbon sequestration only after carefully assessing and limiting other impacts.