“German prosecutors raided asset manager DWS and the headquarters of its majority owner Deutsche Bank on Tuesday over allegations of misleading investors about "green" investments, the prosecutors said. The prosecutors were following up on news reports and a whistleblower's allegations that DWS sold investments as "greener" or "more sustainable" than they were, a practice known as "greenwashing". The German prosecutors said, "sufficient factual evidence has emerged" that environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors were taken into account in a minority of investments "but were not taken into account at all in a large number of investments", contrary to statements in DWS fund sales prospectuses. Regulators and policymakers have pledged to clamp down on companies making exaggerated claims about the sustainability credentials of their products as they try to cash in on booming demand for ESG investing.
The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report underscored the dire state of the climate crisis. Concluding that “immediate, rapid, and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are needed to limit global warming” The IPCC further stated in their report that though the intent of their Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was to utilize strong cost return projects “only a narrow range of possible emission projects either delivered their own revenue or provided cost savings for existing businesses!”
These are very troubling signs as is the fact that a term like “greenwashing” ever evolved. In what appears to be a race for survival of our mother earth, some people and businesses are making their profits the priority.
Let’s learn our lessons quickly and as good corporations, governmental agencies, and public organizations make certain we have solid well-defined goals, dependable partners and technologies, and good monitoring methodologies. We do not have time or resources to waste!
Sources- DWS information Reuters
IPCC information Yahoo