The protection of human rights is a complex issue in the legal field, since the world is constantly evolving, and new issues require new laws. While individual human rights are regulated and protected by law, collective human rights such as a clean environment and their violations by global corporations still need to be clarified. Nevertheless, legislation and the perception of these issues are evolving and supplementing, which is demonstrated by an example of the accusation of companies in greenwashing.
One of the companies that have been accused of greenwashing is the oil corporation Chevron. In the 80s, the company launched the People Do campaign and a series of advertisements in which it demonstrated its commitment to protecting nature and animals. For example, in an ad, a voice-over says that a bear cannot even notice that the company has been exploring the land for oil (Watson, 2016). In the frame, the viewer can see the untouched nature and clean grounds that the company left behind (Watson, 2016). In fact, oil production involves drilling the earth and pumping millions of galls of water that last for years. Consequently, the blurry phrases and vivid images that Chevron offers are untrue or only partially environmentally friendly.
Moreover, even if Chevron showed truthful facts, they exaggerated their importance and scale to form an image of an environmentally responsible company. For instance, the company spent only $ 5,000 a year on its butterfly protection initiative, although oil production brought it millions (Watson, 2016, para. 9). Then, Chevron was violating the clean air and clean water regulations and spilled oil (Watson, 2016, para. 10). Considering its advertising, Chevron formed a message for viewers that it was useful for both nature and people, which pushed customers to choose the company’s products. However, the customers were deceived and brought money to the company, which increased the pollution of the environment.
This practice is unethical and, in fact, violates human rights. First, as Wallace (2015, p.117) noted, transnational enterprises are the main bodies that should be held accountable for their environmental activities, since they destroy the planet and are responsible for most of the damage that affects climate change. In other words, transnational enterprises such as Chevron are destroying the environment, which affects people’s ability to have clean air, water, and land to live. At the same time, marketing affects the right of people to make factual choices, since the company’s messages are often misleading. As Felice (2015. p.544) points out, most companies use self-reporting, the main disadvantage of which is trustworthiness and scope. These reports can provide truthful data but omit important aspects to show the company’s beneficial side. This approach is at the heart of greenwashing because companies manipulate data and facts to present themselves as environmentally friendly organizations, even if the harm from their activities is greater than the benefit.
Thus, Chevron shows how the company uses greenwashing to improve its image in the perception of customers. While this approach can be effective in increasing sales, it violates people’s right to receive truthful advertising and, as a result, leads to a loss of customer trust. In addition, the activities of such companies generally undermine the right of people to protect the environment and live in safe conditions for health, but greenwashing only supports their work.
Reference List
Felice, D., (2015) ‘Business and human rights indicators to measure the corporate responsibility to respect: challenges and opportunities’, Human Rights Quarterly, 37(2), pp. 511-555. doi:10.1353/hrq.2015.0031
Wallace, D. (2015) Human rights and business: a policy-oriented perspective. Boston: Brill Nijhof.
Watson, B. (2016) ‘The troubling evolution of corporate greenwashing’, The Guardianю