CHAPTER 17

Greenwashing and How to Spot It

Claims, evidence and red flags

Opening question

“This fund calls itself 'green' but holds an oil company. Is that greenwashing?”

In this chapter

What greenwashing is, and why it is a gap between claim and evidence
Why it happens: incentives, vague definitions and weak data
The common forms, from vague words to misleading targets
Corporate greenwashing: targets without plans, offsets and selective disclosure, with a worked example
Fund greenwashing: names, labels and holdings that do not match, with a worked example
Is an oil company in a green fund greenwashing?
A practical checklist of red flags
Enforcement, new naming rules and the situation in Vietnam and Asia

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This chapter is in the full book

Chapter 1 is free to read online. The full text of chapter 17 — with its tables, figures, worked examples and practice lab — is available in the complete edition of ESG and Sustainable Investing: From Theory to Practice — Vietnam Readiness (Volume 4, NXW Investment Library).

Read Chapter 1 free Get the full book — contact@nxw.vn

Sections of this chapter

17.1 What greenwashing is

17.2 Why it happens

17.3 The common forms of greenwashing

17.4 Corporate greenwashing: targets without plans

17.5 Offsets, selective disclosure and the say–do gap

17.6 Fund greenwashing: names, labels and holdings

17.7 Is an oil company in a green fund greenwashing?

17.8 Red flags: a practical checklist

17.9 Regulators fight back

17.10 Greenwashing in Vietnam and Asia

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