Greenwash+20: how some powerful corporations are standing in the way of sustainable development
This report is a sequel to the Greenpeace Book on Greenwash that was published a few days before the 1992 Earth Summit. That report documented the special relationship and undue influence that big business had on the Rio process. It introduced the concept of greenwash to a global audience, and provided case studies of companies that were acting – but not behaving – green. The case studies contrasted the rhetoric of PR with the reality of behaviour. Found that the corporations that depicted inspiring images of pristine waters were polluting those waters. The companies that spoke in reverent tones of their respect for the forests were cutting them down. The firms that had adopted and coopted environmental imagery and language were abusing the Earth. And the groupings of elite environmental business leaders were banding together to promote voluntary corporate responsibility while resisting all attempts to hold them responsible for their actions.