ob体育 today released a short report detailing the 35 interventions it has made in response to its greenwashing surveillance activities from 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023. The report also identifies the increasing levels of representations on environmental, social and governance credentials by listed companies, managed funds and superannuation funds.
ob体育 Deputy Chair Karen Chester said, 鈥榯his report discloses 鈥榟ow and why鈥� ob体育 has taken action against greenwashing. All 35 interventions follow the release of our 鈥�How to avoid greenwashing鈥� information sheet in June last year.鈥�
鈥榃here we have seen potentially misleading disclosures, we have taken regulatory action. Our interventions range from securing timely corrections, issuing public infringement notices through to commencing civil penalty proceedings.鈥櫬�
鈥楢ll 35 of our interventions are aimed squarely at promoting fair and transparent markets so that retail investors and financial consumers are well informed and not misled on the 鈥榞reen credentials鈥� of investments and listed companies. We have ongoing surveillances and several investigations underway and anticipate further regulatory action,鈥� said Ms Chester.
From 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023, ob体育 intervention resulted in:
- 23 corrective disclosure outcomes
- 11 infringement notices issued, and
- in one case, the commencement of civil penalty proceedings.
鈥業n disclosing how and why we intervened, alongside the corrective outcomes of our actions, we hope to further inform the market on how to avoid greenwashing鈥�, concluded Ms Chester.聽
The report also provides timely transparency to the market on the nature of the matters where ob体育 has intervened, with reference to:
- net zero statements and targets
- use of terms such as 鈥榗arbon neutral鈥�, 鈥榗lean鈥� or 鈥榞reen鈥�
- fund labels, and
- scope and application of investment exclusions and screens.
When preparing disclosures, issuers and advisers are encouraged to consider this report, alongside, Information Sheet 271 How to avoid greenwashing when offering or promoting sustainability-related products (INFO 271). It is important to ensure that sustainability-related disclosures have reasonable grounds and comply with the law.
Download
- Report 763 ob体育鈥檚 recent greenwashing interventions
- ob体育 and greenwashing antidotes (Deputy Chair Karen Chester鈥檚 keynote speech at the RI Australia 2023 annual conference)
Background
In June 2022, ob体育 released INFO 271 to help issuers avoid greenwashing when offering or promoting sustainability-related products. It sets out the current regulatory settings for communications about sustainability-related products and poses nine questions for issuers to ask themselves to avoid misleading and deceptive greenwashing practices.
In August 2022, ob体育 released the ob体育 Corporate Plan 2022-26: Focus 2022-23, which outlines ob体育鈥檚 strategic priorities for the years 2022-26 and our plan of action for the year 2022-2023. One of these strategic priorities is to support market integrity through proactive supervision and enforcement of governance, transparency and disclosure standards in relation to sustainable finance. In addition, we have identified greenwashing as an enforcement priority for 2023.
The report鈥檚 release today coincides with Deputy Chair Karen Chester speaking at the RI Australia 2023 annual conference on ob体育鈥檚 greenwashing initiatives.聽