Finance
Greenwashing, greenhushing and greenwishing: The new sustainable finance lingo | Investment Executive
“The majority of Canadians want new rules to clear out greenwashing because they’re frustrated by claims not being met with action,” said Julie Segal, senior program manager of climate finance with Environmental Defence Canada. “And a number of financial institutions also want clear rules on sustainable finance, so they can move more clearly in that direction.”
Greenwashing was one of the first terms coined in the sustainable finance discourse, but terms such as greenhushing and greenwishing have since been adopted.
Here’s what the terms mean and how some suggest putting an end to these practices.
Greenwashing
Greenwashing is the practice of making inflated or misleading claims about how environmentally friendly a company, organization or product is, said Yrjo Koskinen, a sustainable and transition finance professor with the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business.
“It’s not necessarily lying, but maybe making exaggerated claims about your environmental or social policies,” he said. “Companies have a tendency of spinning or putting their best foot forward. Everybody does that, right? So, it’s commonplace.”
As Koskinen explained, greenwashing was a niche issue until 2022, when cases began making more frequent headlines in Europe, the U.S. and Canada.
This includes the high-profile case of Keurig Canada reaching a $3-million settlement after the Competition Bureau found the company’s coffee pod recycling claims were false or misleading in certain cases.
In the U.S., DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG, agreed to pay US$25 million to settle charges over alleged greenwashing and deficient anti–money laundering controls at its mutual funds. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged the firm made “materially misleading statements” about the ESG investment processes used for certain actively managed mutual funds and separately managed accounts.
And earlier this year, the European Commission and national consumer protection authorities started action against 20 airlines for alleged misleading greenwashing practices, among other examples.
The Canadian government’s Bill C-59, which received royal assent on June 20, is one example of the recent crackdown on greenwashing.
The legislation requires companies to provide evidence to support their environmental claims. The government said doing so will “protect consumers, competitors and the proper functioning of the market against the harms of untested representations about a product’s benefits for protecting the environment or mitigating the effects of climate change.”
The legislation has received mixed reactions. It was cited by Pathways Alliance as the reason the group of oilsands companies decided to pull its online content. The group said the provision applies a standard “so vague as to lack meaning.”
Financial services regulators have also made progress in addressing greenwashing.
In March the Canadian Securities Administrators bolstered their guidance for investment funds and fund managers around ESG-related disclosure with the goal of increasing clarity and consistency in fund documentation and sales communications.
Also in March, the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board released its draft standards for climate-related risks and opportunities based on the International Sustainability Standards Board’s standards, but with proposed modifications. The consultation on the standards wrapped last month.
Over the past decade, firms such as Morningstar Sustainalytics have established frameworks for assessing companies’ exposure to industry-specific ESG risks and risk management.
Clark Barr, head of ESG methodology with Morningstar Sustainalytics, said the firm relies not on environmental promises from companies, but rather a thorough picture of their ESG policies, programs and performance.
“This is one of the ways we avoid greenwashing, because it’s not just having a policy in place or making a document. We want to see that [impact] all the way through to the performance level,” Barr said.
Greenhushing
Greenhushing is the practice of deliberately downplaying or hiding sustainability goals, Koskinen said, noting this concept is relatively new compared to greenwashing.
One reason companies may employ this practice is because they’re afraid of being accused of greenwashing, he said. They may think that “there’s always somebody who’s going to blame us — either we do too much or too little, but [we’re] never right.”
And companies can see how politicized the issue has become, Koskinen said.
In a January 2024 analysis from global climate consultancy South Pole, 81% of companies said that communicating their net-zero targets would be good for their bottom lines. However, 58% of the 1,400 companies surveyed — across 14 countries and 12 sectors — said communicating their climate action was now more difficult, and they were planning to decrease their level of external communications.
In the realm of finance, a March 2024 report from private and public equity markets data provider PitchBook Data Inc. suggests that some asset managers are pulling back from public ESG commitments out of fear of backlash, with fewer general partners making public commitments to ESG each quarter over the past few years via the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment. Meanwhile, others are leaning in to ESG as a value creation and protection tool in the challenging macroeconomic environment, the report said.
Segal said the concept of greenhushing exists because in Canada sustainability reporting and disclosure standards are voluntary.
“The second something becomes mandatory, it’s no longer a decision that a business or financial institution has to make about whether they are talking about something,” she said.
Greenwishing
Less recognized than greenwashing and greenhushing is greenwishing, which has been described as a company making abstract wishes about “going green” or setting climate targets without taking action.
“Greenwishing sounds pretty much like greenwashing to me. It’s kind of inadvertent greenwashing,” Koskinen said.
Greenwishing is driven by the pressure to set ambitious sustainability goals, KPMG says on its website.
In an article for the Center for Corporate Reporting, which provides guidance on corporate reporting for companies in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, one of the founders of South Pole wrote that greenwishing “ensures that [a] company is seen as a climate leader in the eyes of the public, without running the risk of being accused of greenwashing.”
“After all, you did not make any binding commitments in the first place; you were only expressing your support for climate action and your wishes for a low-carbon future,” the article said.
The way forward
Industry watchers say Canada needs to move toward policies that support the transition to a net-zero economy.
Segal said the country needs to act with greater urgency, given how climate change could affect everything from people’s homes to their livelihoods and the economy.
“We’re seeing increasing climate-related disasters that affect both communities and investment,” Segal said. “Climate-aligned finance policy is the missing piece of Canada’s climate plan,” if it is to align with the country’s commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Segal pointed to Bill S-243, which would hold corporate directors to account for climate action and mandate climate action plans from financial institutions, among other things.
“Requiring the plans that support the commitment is really key in terms of transparency and accountability, and just helping ensure we move in the right direction,” she said.
Koskinen was pleased about Canada following the lead of other jurisdictions, such as Europe.
“Right now, with the new European law, if you advertise a certain ESG investment strategy, at least 80% of your assets have to follow that strategy. That’s a massive, tangible, measurable thing,” he said. “Until the passing of Bill C-59, there was no explicit law against greenwashing in Canada. It was activist groups trying to name and shame, or [the Office of Consumer Affairs] bringing cases against these companies.”
However, Koskinen said the new greenwashing regulations in Canada are “quite vague at the moment.” He said he hopes they will be clarified soon “so that companies have more certainty what is allowed and what is not.”
Barr, of Morningstar Sustainalytics, agrees Canada should look to the European Union as an example as it develops its sustainable finance policies, saying there’s a competitive reason for this as well.
“If you have this whole base of EU customers that are buying products from other businesses and they look at Canadian companies and say, ‘Oh, they’re not taking carbon seriously [so] I’d rather buy from this other company in France,’ that’s a lost opportunity for Canadian business,” he said.
But Barr and Koskinen acknowledged that moving toward a sustainable economy requires time.
Koskinen noted that Europe is less reliant on fossil fuels, whereas oil and gas are Canada’s top exports.
“It’s very difficult to decarbonize our energy system,” he said. “The economy doesn’t change overnight. The new firms are much quicker and agile to change, and some firms can change very fast, but [for] the large legacy companies, it’s going to take time.”
Barr shared a similar remark.
“Sometimes there’s criticism that the regulations aren’t strong enough, or they’re not going quick enough, but at least we’re seeing progress on them. And so it might not be ideal, it might not be perfect, but it is a journey,” he said. “It’s a bit of a marathon, not a sprint.”
Within the global manufacturing industry, maintaining a competitive edge requires a delicate balance between driving internal efficiency and fostering strong external relationships. For Applied Materials, a leader in materials engineering solutions for the semiconductor industry, this challenge became the foundation for a strategic finance transformation program, with an SAP Taulia solution emerging as a key enabler.
The journey began in early 2019 with the launch of Agile Finance, an end-to-end transformation initiative designed to support the company’s aggressive growth trajectory, which included a goal to double in size. The initiative was built around three strategic pillars: enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the finance organization, promoting career fulfillment, and establishing a robust digital operating model. The impact was significant, with the finance function achieving approximately 35% productivity gains in its labor force.
The third pillar—the move to a digital operating model—is where the partnership with SAP Taulia began.
“The SAP Taulia Dynamic Discounting solution was introduced not merely as a cost-cutting measure, but as a strategic tool to transform and digitize the interaction with Applied’s extensive, global supplier base,” Junaid Ahmed, corporate VP, Finance at Applied Materials, says. “We understood that to reap the benefits of digitization, we had to ensure the suppliers were on board. It needed to be a win-win outcome.”
Unprecedented flexibility for suppliers
The program empowers suppliers—thousands of them worldwide—to self-select which approved invoices they wish to discount for early payment. This is not a continuous, all-or-nothing commitment but rather a decision made on an invoice-by-invoice basis. This flexibility allows suppliers to manage their working capital needs with greater precision, taking advantage of early payment during their own critical periods, such as quarter-end or year-end, to help meet their own financial targets.
The system also drastically improves transactional efficiency. Suppliers no longer have to call Applied to track invoice status, approval, or payment date. All this information is available 24/7 in the SAP Taulia solution, reducing resource allocation on both sides and ensuring both reap the benefits of moving to an integrated, digital system.
Strategic benefits for Applied Materials
For Applied, the program is a testament to its focus on balancing efficiency with strong supplier relationships. The philosophy is a “win-win” built on a crucial spread: Applied Materials, as a Fortune 500 company with strong cash flow, has a significantly lower cost of capital than many of its suppliers. By funding the discounts, Applied captures a return—the discount income—while offering its suppliers funding at a rate close to their cost of capital, but with greater convenience.
This relationship-focused approach is critical. Applied’s supplier account managers actively support the program because they recognize its mutual benefit, not viewing it as a finance mandate to push costs onto the supply base.
Furthermore, the “dynamic” nature of the discount rates is a powerful risk mitigation tool. Unlike fixed contractual discounts, the rates can be adjusted in response to global economic changes, such as shifts in interest rates. When interest rates rose after the pandemic, Applied was able to adjust the discount rates accordingly with minimal pushback, as the core proposition remains the valuable spread between the parties’ cost of capital.
The SAP Taulia Dynamic Discounting solution has been rolled out globally, giving all suppliers the opportunity to use it. This has been critical over the last 12 months as many businesses around the globe have been subject to new and often unexpected tariff costs impacting their margin and their liquidity.
“The flexibility of the solution means suppliers can access funds when they need them, which helps them navigate some of the economic uncertainty that many businesses are facing,” Dirk Holoubek, managing director, Finance Shared Services, explains. “2025 saw a 23% increase in usage of the discounts, reflecting the pressures that suppliers are feeling right now on their cash flow.”
The solution’s capability to drive sophisticated analytics is also a major strategic asset. It helps provide insights into the different costs of capital between Applied and its supplier base. This data allows for targeted outreach and communication, ensuring that the offer of capital support is proactively extended to the suppliers that need it most.
The strategic value of the solution is further cemented by its ownership. The acquisition of Taulia by SAP brings several advantages.
“Trust is really important to both us and our suppliers,” Ahmed says. “For our suppliers to adopt a new solution, they need to know its technology they can rely on in the long term. Being part of SAP creates that assurance in the long-term future of the program.”
Looking forward, Applied Materials is already focused on the next stage of the transformation project: Agile Finance 3.0, which is focused on enabling the organization to become AI-first. The company is deploying a global, organization-wide AI assistant to drive personal productivity, but the strategic application of AI in the supplier management space is even more profound.
AI is expected to transform decision-making enablement by analyzing critical information and communicating effective options. In the future, AI will be able to proactively assess the specific needs and attributes of the supplier base, enabling Applied to address issues more quickly and resolve them earlier. The benefits are already tangible in e-invoicing: AI has made the solution more flexible and “human-like,” capable of reading minor changes in invoice format that would have previously caused electronic errors. This reduced rigidity and increased flexibility are directly contributing to the overall efficiency of the digital operating model.
By leveraging the SAP Taulia Dynamic Discounting solution, Applied Materials has not only digitized a process but also strategically transformed its financial operations, creating a system that is agile, resilient, and focused on maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with its global supplier ecosystem.
Cedric Bru is CEO of SAP Taulia.
Finance
Houston budget amendment would give financial assistance to help those impacted by a trash fee
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Houston City Council could soon consider whether to offer financial assistance to help those who may struggle to afford a proposed trash fee.
This month, council will approve a budget. In it, Mayor John Whitmire doesn’t increase taxes.
However, he does want to charge a $5 monthly fee to cover trash services. A plan to help close the city’s nearly $200 million deficit that doesn’t add up to some.
Speaking in front of council on Wednesday, Super Neighborhood 64 president Lindsay Williams brought more than concerns, she had numbers surrounding the mayor’s proposed $5 monthly trash fee.
A plan his team says could climb to $25 a month by 2032. If it does, Williams told council that $300 annual cost would be just .15% of a $200,000 income.
For someone making $15,000, it’s two percent. “More than 13 times the burden for the same trash, same truck and same fee, but not the same pay,” Williams explained.
However, Controller Chris Hollins said the mayor’s not being truthful about the real cost.
“Houstonians are not stupid,” Hollins said. “We should not treat Houstonians like they’re stupid.”
Hollins said the cost may need to be $40 a month. Whitmire didn’t respond to Hollins during the meeting when he asked if he plans to increase the fee.
No matter the cost, some council members want to offer financial relief. Right now, there are no exceptions.
However, an amendment council will consider from Council Member Alejandra Salinas next week would change that.
“If they for whatever reason met the threshold and need an additional need because of the administrative fee, our amendment would allow them to apply for funds through the water fund,” Salinas said.
The trash fee wasn’t the only item from the mayor’s seven and a half billion dollar budget proposal that sparked debate. Hollins said a plan to divert money away from water utilities could drain a billion over the next five years from infrastructure money.
Whitmire disagrees saying there’s more than enough funds to handle the change, and continue with projects.
“We’ve all admitted the budget’s not perfect, but certainly it’s a first start that Houstonians understand and it’s a shame it’s being so politicized because it’s literally people’s lives and death,” Whitmire said.
Council will vote on amendments next week. It has to have a new budget in place by the end of the month.
Copyright © 2026 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Reader question: My spouse has little interest in our financial position. As we age, this concerns me. I try to share some basic information (income, spending, account balances, debt, and so on) each month but rarely get a response. I think graphs or charts might be of more interest to her than a bunch of numbers. What recommendations would you have for illustrating our financial position so that I am not the only person aware of how we are situated? Thanks!
Answer: Your situation is pretty common. Most couples I know develop a division of labor over time, where one person is in charge of financial matters and the other person is less involved. That’s definitely the case for my husband and me. He’s in charge of paying all the monthly bills and preparing our tax returns, but the financial planning and investment decisions are up to me. This type of arrangement might work well for a long time, but can become less sustainable with age, particularly if the “finance person” in the relationship dies or develops a major health issue.
Online tools and mind maps
Illustrating your financial situation with charts and graphs is a great idea that might help your spouse become a little more involved. Morningstar’s Portfolio X-Ray tool includes a variety of images that help illustrate your financial situation. Websites for most major brokerage firms also include some visual tools. Schwab, for example, offers a Portfolio Checkup and a bar graph illustrating your account’s monthly income from dividends and interest income. Vanguard has a Portfolio Watch tool and a variety of performance illustrations, tools, and calculators.
A mind map, which we used with clients when I worked for a financial advisory firm, can be another way to picture your entire financial situation on one page. There are various softwaretemplates for drawing a mind map, or you can simply sketch it out with a large sheet of paper and a pencil. Start with your names at the center of the page. Then draw spokes connecting to various categories, such as names of other family members; investment accounts; real estate and other assets, insurance policies, estate plans, key goals and values, and contact information for accountants, estate planners, and other professionals. It can be helpful to go through the mind map together and make any updates needed at least once a year.
Other ways to communicate about money
A few other ideas—though not related to charts and graphs—might also be useful.
I like the idea of putting together a net worth statement that itemizes cash, taxable accounts, real estate, retirement accounts, and debt for each member of the couple as well as items owned jointly. It’s a good idea to update this document at least once a year and discuss it as a couple. If you set up the document as a spreadsheet, you can include columns with additional information such as account numbers, what each account is used for, which accounts are subject to required minimum distributions, or tax issues like potential capital gains.
Many couples also put together a binder (sometimes humorously called a “Doomsday Book”) that contains information about where to find important paperwork, insurance policies, how bills are paid, what each account is for, steps the surviving spouse will need to take, final wishes, and any other critical information.
A well-qualified financial adviser can bridge the information gap
Finally, you could consider working with a good financial adviser, who can help involve your spouse in financial matters while you’re still living and step in to fully manage investments and personal finance decisions if you pass away before your spouse. Make sure the adviser holds the Certified Financial Planner designation and charges fees that are reasonable. Although a 1% fee is still the industry standard for accounts of $1 million or less, it’s possible to find advisers who charge significantly less, including a few who price their services based on hours worked instead of a percentage of assets under management.
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This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more personal finance content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance.
Amy C. Arnott, CFA, is a portfolio strategist for Morningstar and co-host of The Long View podcast.
Related links:
What If This Turns Out to Be a Terrible Time to Retire?
https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/what-if-this-turns-out-be-terrible-time-retire
Bill Bengen: ‘Inflation Is the Greatest Enemy of Retirees’
https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/bill-bengen-inflation-is-greatest-enemy-retirees
3 Big Questions to Ask Your Aging Parents
https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/3-big-questions-ask-your-aging-parents
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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