RimbaWatch hauls to court 'conflicting' govt responses on greenwashing

An environmental group is seeking a judicial review over allegedly conflicting decisions made by two ministries concerning fossil fuel-related advertising.

Think-tank RimbaWatch said the legal action, filed last week via its solicitors Thurairaj T Kumar and Associates, seeks to enforce the government's statutory duty to probe and address fossil fuel-related advertising allegedly amounting to "greenwashing".

Greenwashing refers to the practice where companies or institutions portray their products, policies or actions as environmentally friendly - often through vague claims, selective disclosures or misleading branding - without implementing efforts to reduce their actual environmental impact.

Labelling its judicial review bid as "Malaysia’s first ever of-its-kind climate litigation case" in the courts here, RimbaWatch targeted its action against the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry and the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry (NRES).

In a statement today, RimbaWatch said it had filed formal complaints to both ministries via relevant channels on Sept 20.

The complaints related to a fossil fuel firm’s current marketing of a product, which is derived from fossil fuels, as “carbon neutral” - a claim RimbaWatch alleged is misleading.

"We filed the complaint to these ministries as the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry represents the agency serving the minister appointed to protect consumers, whilst NRES represents the agency serving the minister appointed to prevent pollution and protect the environment.

"We suggested that, if indeed these claims (made by the fossil fuel firm) are misleading as we believe, they could harm both consumer protection and climate protection interests," the group said.

Misleading advertising

However, on Sept 30, the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry’s reply to its report explained that such a complaint was out of the ministry's jurisdiction.

The ministry, helmed by minister Armizan Ali, further advised RimbaWatch to make a complaint to the NRES.

On the same day, NRES responded to RimbaWatch's initial complaint by citing similar reasoning as the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry, going so far as to direct the group to the latter ministry.

"We believe that the decision by both ministries suggesting that such complaints are out of their jurisdiction is incorrect," RimbaWatch said.

"The practical effect of these decisions is that there is seemingly no government agency empowered to investigate potentially misleading advertising or marketing claims related to climate protection.

"Therefore, we have filed a judicial review challenging both these decisions," it added.

It noted that in the relevant documents pertaining to its claim, the group is relying in part on the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) Climate Change Advisory Opinion from July 23.

The ICJ's advisory opinion, the group said, establishes that the standard of due diligence required of states in protecting the climate system is “stringent”.

It further demands that states put in place a “national system, including legislation, administrative procedures and an enforcement mechanism necessary to regulate the activities in question”, and exercise “adequate vigilance” to make such a system function efficiently.

"As such, we believe a refusal to investigate credible allegations of greenwashing represents a failure to exercise the 'adequate vigilance' required under this standard.

"The ICJ emphasised that due diligence requires 'not only the adoption of appropriate rules and measures, but also a certain level of vigilance in their enforcement', given the seriousness of climate change threats," RimbaWatch stressed.

Greenwashing across Southeast Asia

The group also expressed its concern over a perceived hike in corporate greenwashing across Southeast Asia.

It said a United Nations (UN) High-Level Expert Group had acknowledged that such activities misleadingly portray companies or other entities as doing more to protect the environment than they actually are.

This then promotes false solutions to addressing climate change, further delaying concrete and credible climate action, RimbaWatch warned.

"Malaysia, unlike regional counterparts such as Singapore, has yet to develop regulatory guidance on greenwashing, nor have they acted proactively to address misleading claims being made.

"We are hopeful that this (legal action) will act as a wake-up call to the Malaysian authorities to address greenwashing, thus improving alignment between corporate actions and Malaysia’s national climate and developmental priorities," it added.

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