SERIES: Climate Activism

S4-S6 / Adult

60–90 minutes

Sustainable Business: Can Companies Be Part of the Solution?

Businesses can be major sources of emissions and powerful sources of innovation, investment and change. That makes corporate climate claims important — and worth checking carefully. You will trace where business emissions can occur, learn the warning signs of greenwashing, audit one real company claim and recommend what credible leadership would look like. By […]

Sustainable Business: Can Companies Be Part of the Solution?

Your Mission

Audit a real company’s climate claim and decide whether the evidence matches the message.

You will map where business emissions come from, build a green-claims checklist, investigate one real claim and make a specific recommendation for stronger corporate climate action.

The Shape of This Challenge

Discover

✏️ ️ Notice & explain

Explore

️ Investigate & test

Create

✏️ Make & communicate

Reflect

️ Think & apply

Discover

Understand where corporate climate impact actually comes from before judging the marketing.

Step 1

Follow the Footprint

✏️ Map a product · 8–10 mins

We are learning to recognise that a company’s climate impact can sit across operations, energy use and its wider value chain.

A business footprint is not limited to the lights in its office. Materials, suppliers, transport, product use and disposal can matter as much or more.

Your Task

Choose a product you know: trainers, a phone, a burger, a T-shirt or another everyday item.
Map five stages from raw material to end of life.
Mark where emissions could occur at each stage.
Circle the stages the brand directly controls and underline the stages it can only influence.

I can identify multiple sources of emissions across a product or service value chain.

→ This gives you the systems view needed to assess company climate claims.

EntrepreneurshipSystems ThinkingCritical Thinking

Step 2

Spot the Difference: Action or Greenwashing?

️ Claim test · 8–10 mins

We are learning to identify features that make a corporate climate claim more or less credible.

Words such as ‘green’, ‘eco’, ‘carbon neutral’ and ‘net zero’ can sound impressive while hiding important details.

Your Task

Create two headings: Stronger evidence and Warning sign.
Sort these features: measurable target, baseline year, deadline, independent verification, vague language, only highlighting one product, no Scope 3 data, absolute emissions falling, relying mainly on offsets.
Add one feature of your own to each side.
Write one question you would ask any company making a climate claim.

I can identify at least four features that help distinguish credible climate action from greenwashing.

→ This becomes your claim-check checklist.

Critical ThinkingEthical ReasoningBusiness Literacy

Explore

Move from slogans to evidence by checking one real claim and identifying the gap between promise and performance.

Step 3

Audit One Real Climate Claim

Choose your route · 12–15 mins

We are learning to compare what a company says with independent evidence.

Choose a company you know. Focus on one specific climate or sustainability claim rather than trying to judge the whole organisation.

Your Task

Copy the claim exactly and record where the company makes it.
Complete either the Quick Track or Dig Deeper route.
Record evidence for the claim, evidence that complicates it and anything you cannot verify.
Give the claim a verdict: strong, mixed, weak or misleading.

⚡ Quick Track

Use the company’s own sustainability information plus one independent source. Check whether the claim includes a measurable target, timeframe and evidence of progress.

Dig Deeper

Use the company source plus at least two independent sources. Compare targets with absolute emissions, Scope 3 coverage and any third-party verification or criticism.

I can give an evidence-based verdict on one real corporate climate claim.

→ This becomes the central evidence in your final business audit.

ResearchInformation EvaluationEntrepreneurship

Step 4

What Would Genuine Leadership Look Like?

️ Build a better plan · 10–12 mins

We are learning to move from criticism to a practical recommendation for better corporate climate action.

A useful audit does more than say a company is good or bad. It identifies the gap between the claim and what credible improvement would require.

Your Task

List the two strongest things the company is already doing.
List the two biggest gaps or unanswered questions from your audit.
Choose one recommendation that would make the biggest difference.
Make it specific: what should change, by when, and what evidence should the company publish?

I can make a specific, evidence-informed recommendation for stronger corporate climate action.

→ This becomes the recommendation in your final audit.

Problem SolvingEntrepreneurshipEthical Reasoning

Create & Share

Turn your evidence into a balanced audit that a consumer, investor or decision-maker could use.

Step 5

Publish a Green Claims Audit

✏️ Analyse · Create · 30–40 mins

We are learning to communicate a balanced judgement about a company’s climate claim.

Your final piece should separate claim, evidence, gap and recommendation. Avoid both corporate PR and blanket cynicism.

Your Task

Name the company and exact claim.
Use at least one company source and one independent source.
Include your verdict and one specific recommendation.
Choose one output below.

Green Claims Brief

1 page · 250–300 words

⏱ 30–35 mins

Use four sections: Claim, Evidence, Gap, Recommendation.

Boardroom Audit

5 slides · maximum 30 words per slide

⏱ 35–40 mins

Present the claim, evidence, verdict and one priority action as if briefing senior leaders.

Consumer Explainer

90 seconds final runtime

⏱ 30–35 mins

Explain whether the claim deserves trust, using evidence without oversimplifying the company.

I can produce a balanced evidence-based audit of a corporate climate claim.

→ This is your finished mission output.

EntrepreneurshipResearchCommunication

Step 6

Reflect, Apply, Look Forward

️ Think or discuss · 5–8 mins

We are learning to reflect on how evidence should shape trust in corporate sustainability claims.

The most useful position is rarely ‘believe every green claim’ or ‘all sustainability is fake’. Critical evaluation sits between those extremes.

Your Task

Respond to each prompt.
Identify one change you would make to your own consumer or professional judgement.
Choose one question you would now ask a business about sustainability.

Reflect

Which piece of evidence most affected your verdict on the company claim?

Apply

How could this claim-checking method be used for products, investors, employers or public-sector procurement?

Look Forward

What evidence should companies be required to publish as climate disclosure becomes more important?

I can explain how I would judge future sustainability claims more critically.

→ Next, you will look at one of the hardest practical parts of decarbonisation: energy.

ReflectionEthical ReasoningDigital Citizenship

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TOOLKIT

Choose Your Tools

Use the tools available to you. The quality of the thinking matters more than the software.

Company evidence

Use the company sustainability report or climate pages, then compare claims with independent evidence such as SBTi, CDP, regulators, credible journalism or sector data.

Analysis

Use a document or spreadsheet to build a claim-versus-evidence table and record sources.

Create and share

Use slides, a one-page briefing, infographic or short recorded analysis.

Educator / Parent Notes

Age, Stage and Prior Learning: Designed for S4–S6 learners and adults. Useful links include Business Education, Geography, Modern Studies and Learning for Sustainability.

Before You Start: If possible, pre-identify several companies with accessible public sustainability information. Remind learners to analyse claims and evidence rather than attack individuals or brands.

How to Open This: Show two invented claims: “We care about the planet” and “Cut absolute operational emissions 40% from a 2019 baseline by 2030, independently verified.” Ask which is easier to test and why.

Scheduling: Steps 1–4 need around 40–45 minutes; Step 5 needs 30–40 minutes. The company audit can be extended into a longer research project.

If a Pupil Gets Stuck: Give the learner one exact company claim and a simple four-column table: Claim / Evidence for / Evidence against or missing / Verdict.

For Fast Finishers: Ask them to compare two competitors or distinguish absolute emissions reduction from emissions intensity.

Marking Guidance: Look for source comparison, appropriate scepticism without cynicism, recognition of value-chain impact, clear reasoning behind the verdict and a specific recommendation.

Sustainable Business: Can Companies Be Part of the Solution?

Sustainable Business: Can Companies Be Part of the Solution?

Discover

Follow the Footprint

Spot the Difference: Action or Greenwashing?

Explore

Audit One Real Climate Claim

What Would Genuine Leadership Look Like?

Create & Share

Publish a Green Claims Audit

Reflect, Apply, Look Forward

Show What You Have Learned

Company evidence

Analysis

Create and share

Show What You Have Learned

Company evidence

Analysis

Create and share

TOOLKIT

Company evidence

Analysis

Create and share

Educator / Parent Notes

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