The term “greenwashing” has been around since the 1980s and was initially coined to refer to hotels that encouraged guests to reuse their towels and thereby “save the planet” – while in fact simply saving on the hotel’s laundry bills. The towels also deflected attention away from whatever the hotel’s overall environmental impact might be.

Since then, consumers have become increasingly interested in green products and companies have become increasingly adept at using claims of being environmentally friendly as fig leaves for their overall negative environmental impact. Today, “impact washing” has been added to the lexicon of those seeking to hold companies and in particular financial institutions to account for their green claims.