Whether you’re a citizen, consumer or investor, it is fast becoming a key life skill to make out greenwashing, a word meaning a company claims that its products are environmentally friendly but actually not green at all. Misleading, or not proved claims about benefits to climate can make it harder for people to make informed decisions. They can also weaken real efforts by companies to clean up their act and deal with the climate crisis.

The basic problem is a lack of clarity. Indeed, when it comes to spottıng greenwashing, it can actually be more helpful to focus on the color grey—because it is the many grey areas that have helped make greenwashing appear in particular places. These grey areas might be around measurements, definitions, best practice, standards or regulations. Even the language we use is very imprecıse, leaving lots of room for vagueness, confusion or complete cheating. For instance, what do words such as “green”, “sustainable” and “eco” even mean? You have no standards, measurements or definitions to judge by.

These problems are increasingly important when it comes to the greenwashing of investment products, such as pensions and investment funds. In recent years, there has been a sharp rise in consumer demand for funds that invest according to environmental, social and governance (管理) criteria, often referred to as ESG funds. According to the financial data provider Morningstar, the value of assets (资产) held in UK funds grew from £29bn at the beginning of 2017 to £71bn by the end of 2020.

With that much money at risk for high profits, misleading claims can effectively hamper the flow of money and resources into really green new plans and businesses, preventing global efforts from dealing with the climate emergency. “I describe it as the ‘teenage years’ of responsible investing, with a lot of experimentation, and a lot of people trying out new things.” says Ashley Hamilton Claxton.

At the start of every working week, millions of people around the world get ready for something they do endlessly, joylessly and badly: a meeting.

The reason is simple, says Madeleine de Hauke, a meeting coach and teacher in an Antwerp Management School. “We spend our lives and huge amounts of money on meetings, but there’s very little work that helps people run them effectively.”

Madeleine is correct. Running a meeting well takes skill. People need to know ahead why they are meeting, what they are supposed to achieve, who really needs to be there and how they should contribute. That sounds obvious but it is not, as anyone who has been to a pointless meeting knows. Yet meeting leaders are expected to learn all this on the job. I cannot remember ever being taught how to organize a meeting, and I have rarely had a job requiring me to do it.

I also like Madeleine’s descriptions of what she calls the Meeting Monsters: people who destroy meetings with all sorts of annoying behaviors. There is the unkind off-topic speaker. The non-stop noise in the background. The confusing rambler whose speech is endless. The rude multi-tasker. The one who says nothing but emails later to say what was decided will never work.

The trouble is, we are all meeting monsters sometimes, says Madeleine. A good meeting leader knows how to stop this behavior, or make sure it never starts by making it clear what will and won’t be allowed.

A bad meeting is like a virus (病毒). By failing to produce good decisions it often requires another meeting to be held, then another and another. Luckily there is no need for a vaccine (疫苗), just a bit more care and preparation, and an understanding that there is no shame in being taught how to lead a meeting well.

Fun classroom activities for high school students

Classroom activities can help students relax after long-time lessons. They can educate as well as entertain the students at the same time. 【小题1】 They will help spread knowledge and awareness(意识) among them.

Debate

Children are very enthusiastic(热情的) when it comes to debates. You can choose any topic, either a political one or a topic from the textbook. Divide the class into two groups, and make one group argue in favor of the topic and the other against it.【小题2】 Debates will improve spur-of-the-moment(一时冲动的) thinking of the students. They will also improve their communication skills and help them think more logically.

History activity

The only problem with history is remembering the dates. 【小题3】 All you have to do is ask the students to prepare themselves for any two battles or wars for this activity. Then make notes with different events that took place in any one war or battle. Mix them up and distribute(分发) them among the students. Then ask the students to open their notes and arrange themselves according to the dates of the events in the notes. 【小题4】

Quiz competition

Choose a topic and ask the students to prepare for it. Then divide the class into three teams and make a set of questions. 【小题5】 See which team scores higher.