Greenwashing

Summary

The requester asked for all emails containing variations of the term 'greenwash' within the Environment and Agriculture & Land areas of the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture between January 2021 and June 2022. The authority released the requested information with redactions applied to personal data.

Key Facts

• The request was received on 1 June 2022 and clarified on 6 June 2022 to focus on specific departmental areas.
• The search covered emails from 1 January 2021 to 1 June 2022.
• The response included 2 pages of documents.
• Redactions were applied to withhold personal information belonging to third parties.
• The final outcome was that all non-exempt information was sent to the requester.

Data Disclosed

• 2480565
• 1 January 2021
• 1 June 2022
• 6 June 2022
• 22 July 2022
• 2 pages
• 1 document
• section 25(2)(b)(i)

Exemptions Cited

• Section 25(2)(b)(i) of the Freedom of Information Act (Personal Information)

Original Request

I request a copy of all emails from 1 January, 2021, to 1 June, 2022, inclusive, which use any of the following sequences of letters: "green wash" "greenwash" "green-wash" This should include the above sequences of letters when part of a longer sequence of letters (such as "greenwashed" or "greenwashing")

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator Corporate Services Directorate Thie Slieau Whallian, Foxdale Road, St John’s, Isle of Man, IM4 3AS Tel no (01624) 685854 Fax no (01624 685851 Email: defa@gov.im www.gov.im

Our ref: 2480565 22nd July 2022

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 1st June 2022 and which states:

"I request a copy of all emails from 1 January, 2021, to 1 June, 2022, inclusive, which use any of the following sequences of letters: "green wash" "greenwash" "green-wash" This should include the above sequences of letters when part of a longer sequence of letters (such as "greenwashed" or "greenwashing")"

On the 6th June 2022 you clarified your request by stating: “I am happy to confine the request to the 'Environment' and 'Agriculture & Land' areas of the Department.” Our response to your request is as follows: I have enclosed copies of the information that is being released to you. You will note there are redactions within the information supplied. These are personal information that is not your own and its disclosure would contravene data protection principles as it would not be fair to the data subjects and would not be proportionate to disclose that information here. Consequently this is withheld under section 25(2)(b)(i) of the Freedom of Information Act.

Please quote the reference number 2480565 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are

dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.