The UN takes on corporate greenwashing

for thrills rarely turn to official reports written by groups of worthies. At first glance, one from a body soporifically named the High-Level Expert Group on the Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities might be expected to cure insomnia. The team of experts, led by Catherine McKenna, a former Canadian minister, has spent the past seven months poring over the proliferating climate commitments of banks and big businesses, as well as cities and regions. Yawn? Not a bit of it. The group’s conclusions, presented to the Secretary General on November 8th at the annual climate summit taking place in Egypt, made both s and activists sit up. In her opening letter, the refreshingly direct Ms McKenna set the tone: “It’s time to draw a red line around greenwashing.”