Fiji Water claims to be natural artesian water from the Fiji Islands distributed worldwide
By Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The California-based Newport Trial Group brought the suit in a U.S. District Court on behalf of individuals seeking restitution for these false claims, which are thought to be responsible for a significant amount of Fiji's increased market share.
Here is a quote from the filed complaint:
“Defendants claim that they remove more carbon pollution from our atmosphere than they release into it. In reality, however, FIJI water is not "Carbon Negative." Instead, Defendants justify this claim by employing a discredited carbon accounting method known as "forward crediting." Thus, Defendants do not remove more carbon pollution than they create; they simply claim credit for carbon removal that may or may not take place - up to several decades in the future.”
The company has said it calculates the carbon footprint of the full lifecycle of its products. Specifically, it says: “through a combination of meaningful reductions and carbon-reducing land use and renewable energy projects, the production and sale of each bottle of FIJI Water will actually result in a net reduction of carbon in the atmosphere by 120%.”
The people bringing the lawsuit beg to differ. They say the carbon negative talk applies to offsets for carbon emissions in the future, rather than in the present.
And here is another quote from the filed complaint:
“Standard offset credits” represent carbon reductions that have already taken place. By contrast, "forward offset credits" represent carbon reductions that may or may not take place up to several decades in the future.”
Fiji, which already has a shaky reputation at best among environmentalists and human rights activists, has not commented on the suit.
Is it not irrelevant what they claim anyway? Bottled water is bad for the environment, whichever way we see it and we should be attacking the entire industry with a nice little lawsuit as to their claims that bottled water is better and safer than drinking municipal water, that is to say, tap water. That is a false claim too and very misleading indeed.
Carbon crediting itself is being and becoming rather discredited more and more and operations such as those by FIJI definitely do not help to breather confidence into the system.
All carbon credits are, basically, are indulgences by but another name, and they got discredited already when the Vatican used them in the Middle Ages. Now we use them left, right and center with regards to CO2 emissions, etc. It is all done so that the big companies can continue with “business as usual” without having to bat an eyelid, and all that on the back of poor countries, and all of us, and our children’s future.
© 2011
