Remgro chair Johann Rupert is supportive of companies increasing their environmental goals, but warns alternate energy cannot efficiently build South African industry and address its urgent electricity needs.
Responding to questions around the investment holding company's strategy around environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues at its AGM on Wednesday, the billionaire businessman, who also chairs Swiss luxury group Richemont, flagged that the political, social and economic realities of going green came at a cost.
Rupert, whose family is well-known for its conservation efforts in SA, said there was a "lot of greenwashing" going on, adding that he was "not quite sure that all the companies that sign up for science-based (environmental) targets know exactly what all of these commitments entail".
Greenwashing involves creating a false impression about the environmentally conscious aspects of a company's operations, strategy or products.
Rupert indicated another problem was that competitors did not always apply the same standards as those who were trying their best to be more environmentally friendly.
He said that at Richemont, for example, the group had decided to eradicate and ban all polyvinyl chloride (PVC), because the costs of trying to recycle it were too prohibitive. However, the company's competitors were not doing the same.
Rupert did not want to "leave our grandchildren a hot, dirty planet", but said that on the other hand SA "cannot do without electricity", something which he had tried to explain to "people abroad".
