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Greenwashing is not always deliberate. John Pabon says it ranges from fossil fuel companies outright lying to corporations that over-claim and governments and celebrities performing concern they do not actually have.

The most effective example he offers is the carbon footprint calculator. British Petroleum, working with a PR firm around 2002 or 2003, popularized it not as a tool for improving their own operations but as a way to shift responsibility onto consumers for a problem the oil industry created. John Pabon says the language we now use every day is often just a marketing campaign we adopted without realizing it.

His new book, Strategic Sustainability: A Pragmatic Blueprint for Responsible Business, chronicles the modern sustainability movement for the first time and makes the case that the train left the station long ago. Companies may be quieter about it now because of political pressure, but the work is still happening.

Topics: greenwashing, carbon footprint calculator BP, sustainability business, fast fashion, Strategic Sustainability

GUEST: John Pabon | http://johnpabon.com

Originally aired on 2026-05-05