ob体育 has taken action for greenwashing against listed energy company Black Mountain Energy Limited (BME).
BME has paid $39,960 to comply with three infringement notices issued by ob体育 in relation to concerns about alleged false or misleading sustainability-related statements made to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) between 23 December 2021 and 8 September 2022.
ob体育 Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, 鈥榦b体育 issued eight infringement notices for alleged greenwashing in 2022 and has started the year with further action against a listed company. ob体育 will continue to closely monitor sustainability claims and take action where we consider representations cannot be substantiated or are factually incorrect.鈥�
The infringement notices were issued in relation to statements contained in three ASX announcements made by BME which claimed that:
- BME was creating a natural gas development project with 鈥榥et-zero carbon emissions鈥�, and
- the greenhouse gas emissions associated with Project Valhalla would be net zero.
ob体育 was concerned that BME either did not have a reasonable basis to make the representations, or that the representations were factually incorrect.
BME paid the infringement notices on 3 January 2023. Payment of an infringement notice is not an admission of guilt or liability.
The specific reasons for ob体育鈥檚 concerns are set out in the three infringement notices which have been published on the聽Credit and ob体育 Act infringements notices register.
Background
ob体育 has issued infringement notices in response to concerns about alleged greenwashing against Tlou Energy Limited (22-294MR), Vanguard Investments Australia (22-336MR) and Diversa Trustees Limited (22-379MR).
ob体育鈥檚 Information Sheet 271 (INFO 271) provides information for responsible entities of managed funds and super fund trustees about how to avoid greenwashing when offering or promoting sustainability-related or ethical products and investments.