Is 'greenhushing' such a bad thing?

 U.S. President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order on April 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The order instructed the U.S. attorney general to seek out any climate change-related laws that 'burdened' domestic energy creation.

With banks and asset managers bailing on sustainability partnerships, some companies removing carbon emission goals, a regulator of those industries pausing climate disclosure rules and a U.S. administration that's hunting for environmental initiatives in state laws…

Yeah, the times are a-changin' from the climate action rah-rahs of just a few years ago. 

That sudden silence has a name in some circles: greenhushing, where companies or governments erase environmental commitments, fearing potential political, investor or customer backlash. 

But some experts believe the work is continuing quietly. What's more, they say, those that still do it vocally can serve as a more genuine example of how to champion climate action.

"When you're talking about sustainability and climate-related disclosures, a lot of it is politically driven," explains Kimberly Logue Ortega, who advises companies on energy and environment compliance through her work at the consulting firm J.S. Held. 

She sees greenhushing as a response to regulations in Europe and Canada cracking down on climate promises that cannot be proven or supported — a practice known as greenwashing.

Beyond the political pressure from above, Ortega sees another pressure from below.

"I think what we're likely to see moving forward is more investor-driven litigation," she told CBC News, speaking from Little Rock, Ark. "Attempting to drive companies to either expand or restrict their environmental disclosures."

A series of recent reports by the climate consultancy South Pole found greenhushing to be a trend among the hundreds of companies it surveyed. Its 2024 report echoes Ortega's view that regulatory compliance and fear of scrutiny mean companies are "no longer communicating their climate strategies and goals with confidence."

But not everyone agrees greenhushing is widespread. A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report analyzed more than 4,000 companies that made climate commitments, finding while 16 per cent were "decelerating" targets, 37 per cent were actually increasing ambitions.

According to the report, this suggests "an era of quiet progress, where companies avoid publicizing climate pledges that can open them up to unwanted scrutiny and instead focus on making progress far from the spotlight."

Some experts also don't see this withdrawal as a bad thing. 

"Greenhushing is often portrayed as something negative," said Frederic Hans, of the non-profit NewClimate Institute. But he disagrees with the idea that strict regulations are too tough on companies, forcing them to hide their climate ambition. 

"Because we see many companies, particularly the real front-running companies, still disclose, still do things, still come forward with new targets," Hans told CBC News from Berlin. 

He and his team highlights some of those companies in a report, the 2025 Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor, profiling industries from fashion to agri-food to tech.

Though no company rose to the highest standards on climate pledges, Hans argues progress has been made — and that demanding companies back up their sustainable claims provides clarity and leadership. 

"It actually allows you to really differentiate between a front-running company that really walks the walk … really puts measures in place and substantiates its targets, [from] other companies that do not." 

— Anand Ram
 

The web version of this week's newsletter can be found here. Read old issues here. The CBC News climate page is here.

Check out our podcast and radio show. In our newest episode: From cuts to U.S. weather agencies, to the rise of AI predictions, there are big changes in the world of extreme weather forecasting. We talk with the former head of the Canadian Hurricane Centre about what it all means for our ability to warn Canadians before hurricanes hit. Then we hear how well the current AI forecasting models can predict these weather events — and how the technology needs to improve.

What On Earth drops new podcast episodes every Wednesday and Saturday. You can find them on your favourite podcast app, or on demand at CBC Listen. The radio show airs Sundays at 11 a.m. ET, 11:30 a.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador.

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Reader Feedback

Last week, we asked the question: Should the government assist low-income people with air conditioning? We heard back from many readers both for and against government assistance. We heard from Sandra McGuire who said: "This is perhaps a far more complicated question than just paying for air conditioning. We are already experiencing the beginning effects of climate change, and it is bound to get far worse. Of course I think people should be helped to get as comfortable as possible, but air conditioners, while perhaps becoming an essential item, feel also like a Band-Aid. … [The] government owes us a heck of a lot more than air conditioners. They owe us the right to a liveable future."

Last month, we published an article about how fishing gear waste is being turned into plant pots and swimwear. Chloé Dubois, the founder and executive director of B.C.-based non-profit Ocean Legacy Foundation wrote in to provide some updated numbers on the amount of waste they’ve been able to divert. She said: "We have just had an update in our diversion numbers from our facility for 2025. Currently, our program has diverted 5,286,670.40 lbs."
 

Write us at whatonearth@cbc.ca. (And feel free to send photos too!) 

The Big Picture: The plants you can grow in Canada are changing

Global warming is changing Canada's growing zones. According to the federal government's latest Plant Hardiness Zones map — which is based on climate averages from 1991-2020 — growing zones have changed across much of the country. The hardiness zones indicate what kinds of plants, crops or trees can grow in an area. Generally, the higher the zone number, the more moderate the weather is, and the less cold-resistant a plant has to be to survive. Here we see Zone 9A, the most moderate zone found in Canada. No municipalities were in this zone during the 1961-1990 period, but now some 30 municipalities in the Victoria and Vancouver areas are. In this (relatively) balmy zone, you can grow cold-hardy palms and even citrus. Even though the shifting zones are a sign of a larger problem — climate change throwing weather patterns into disarray — the data brings new opportunities for farmers to expand their fields or try new crops.

— Inayat Singh

 

Can charred wood help farmers — and the climate?

Biochar is a material made from subjecting organic matter to high heat, producing material that's rich in carbon.

In a rolling field in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley, the soil in one row of grapevines is littered with charred fragments of wood.

The charcoal-like substance is something that scientists and farmers hope will turn waste into a tool to improve the health of the soil and store carbon long term.

"Instead of losing everything in the atmosphere, we can stick … that carbon in the soil," said Vicky Lévesque, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Kentville, N.S.

Scientists and companies in Nova Scotia are exploring how a material called biochar can be used and produced in the province. Lévesque says it's an opportunity to support growers while fighting climate change.

She is testing biochar on grapevines at 11 sites in the valley to see how it affects carbon sequestration, soil biodiversity, plant growth and nutrient leaching.

The experiment will run for four years.

"Talking with the grape industry, [they] see some issues in their vineyards, such as soil compaction, nitrogen loss and also water retention. And so we … brought that idea to test biochar in their vineyards."

What is biochar?

Biochar is made by heating organic materials — usually wood, but also crop waste, manure and even sewage — to temperatures as high as 1,000 C. That process, known as pyrolysis, happens without oxygen, meaning materials don't burn, but transform to a gas and a material that's almost entirely solid carbon.

That material is thought to benefit soil in a number of ways. 

Biochar is packed with tiny pores. Those pores provide habitat for beneficial microorganisms; a tablespoon of biochar can have as much surface area as a football field.

Biochar also retains water — as much as 27 grams per gram of biochar, allowing it to hold and release water over time — and aerates soils, helping roots penetrate.

Atlantic Canada's freeze-thaw cycle causes soils to lose nitrogen from fertilizers to the atmosphere, costing farmers money and producing greenhouse gas emissions. Experiments suggest that biochar is able to retain that nitrogen, reducing emissions and fertilizer use. 

Biochar is almost 90 per cent carbon, as roasting without oxygen prevents the carbon in the wood from being released into the atmosphere.

Soils in Atlantic Canada now lose a half-tonne of carbon a year, mainly through tillage. Biochar could help reverse that.

Dalhousie assistant professor Sonil Nanda, who is researching the production and use of biochar in applications ranging from agriculture to medicine, said biochar can help Canada make progress on climate change goals, especially when using material that would otherwise go to waste. 

"Canada can be a leader in tapping into these underutilized residues that come from the agricultural sector, forestry sector, municipal solid waste, forest fire wood," he said. "Biochar is one of those integral components … that will help us move toward net zero."

Barriers to adoption

Lévesque said one current barrier to adoption is the cost — the experiment is using 10 tonnes of biochar per hectare, which adds up to about $10,000. Another is the availability of biochar, as there are currently no large-scale producers in Atlantic Canada. 

A Halifax-based company is working to address that. 

Sawmills in the province currently have no destination for their residual wood — the remaining material left after usable lumber is cut — due to the closure of Northern Pulp, a mill that was shuttered in 2020. 

If that material is left to rot or is burned in an open fire, "that is at risk of going back into the form of CO2 after the tree worked for 50 or 100 years to make it into carbon," said Don LeBlanc, president of RDA Atlantic Inc.

Instead, RDA is proposing to turn that material into biochar.

RDA has been working with a reactor design developed and patented in Poland; that reactor, which can weigh up to 40 tonnes, produces biochar in large amounts. RDA is trying to bring the technology to North America, and LeBlanc said they're currently in discussions with a sawmill in Nova Scotia to install it. 

In the meantime, RDA is selling biochar that's produced in Poland locally, as a way of generating awareness among the public. 

"As the market builds for the product, then we'll be in a better position to justify the construction of the first production facility in Atlantic Canada," said LeBlanc.

— Moira Donovan