The greenwashing fix exposed: Two thirds of US firms admit they don't know how much pollution they emit and their public data is just a 'best guess'

A shocking number of US firms say they don't know how much pollution their business causes, and the numbers they release are a 'best guess' that amounts to greenwashing, research shows. Environmentalists accuse firms of hypocrisy for trumpeting how sustainable they are without properly measuring their carbon footprint The UN's health agency says 'big tobacco' is one of the worst offenders Many firms fail to count the pollution caused when their products are left behind in landfill Companies face ever-tighter requirements to disclose granular details about their, environmental impacts, and what are known as 'Scope 3' emissions, which cover the wider impact of a company's activities. Climate activists in New York City: many want firms to properly measure their carbon footprint In some cases, US firms don't properly count the emissions of planet-heating gases from the energy they consume Fully 48 percent of US-based procurement chiefs said they were 'very confident' they could 'accurately' report on their upstream and downstream emissions, as they are also known. Oliver Hurrey, founder of the Scope 3 Peer Group, which focuses on emissions in supply chains, urged procurement chiefs to 'identify unsustainable suppliers' and act so they could head 'in a greener direction.'