‘Greenwashing’: Can net-zero claims from big companies be trusted?

Corporate heavyweights from the financial sector to the energy patch are announcing plans to cut carbon emissions, as investors place increasing emphasis on the environment. But how much stock should be put in these claims when executives are writing their own rules?

Tom Rand, the managing partner at ArcTern Ventures, said these objectives are too often based on offsets, and there aren’t enough projects to satisfy demand. After climate luminary and former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney was forced to walk back claims he made about Brookfield Asset Management, it’s possible that other corporate actors will struggle to communicate their plans properly to investors.

“The notion that somehow the financial sector is going to self regulate through aspirational targets called ESG to a better world is absolute nonsense,” Rand said in an interview with Yahoo Finance Canada senior reporter Jeff Lagerquist.

While Rand supports environmental, social, and corporate governance-focused investing by Mom and Pop shareholders, he believes governments and private equity players will have a greater impact.

Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.

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