THE NEXT frontier of greenwashing could include unsubstantiated claims of transition financing or an over-reliance on offsets, says a report by the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC) and environmental law non-profit ClientEarth.

The report, an in-depth look at greenwashing in Asia’s finance industry, said that regulators will need to contend with emerging –and creative – forms of misleading environmental claims.

“Transition-washing” is particularly complex, given the rising importance of transition finance by financial institutions and regulators in this region. Transition finance refers to providing interim capital for high-carbon activities until they can be replaced with greener alternatives.