--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All these corporate reports say they want…" description: "\"All these corporate reports say they want zero carbon. Well that is ridiculous, because you are not telling us what you are, you are telling us what yo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/william-mcdonough-10055_carbon_all-these-corporate-reports-say-they-wan_2927978.png" --- # All these corporate reports say they want zero carbon… ![“All these corporate reports say they want zero carbon. Well that is ridiculous, because you are not telling us what you are, you are telling us what you are not.” quote by William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/william-mcdonough-10055_carbon_all-these-corporate-reports-say-they-wan_2927978.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/william-mcdonough-10055_carbon_all-these-corporate-reports-say-they-wan_2927978.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2e/william-mcdonough-10055_carbon_all-these-corporate-reports-say-they-wan_2927978.png) > “All these corporate reports say they want zero carbon. Well that is ridiculous, because you are not telling us what you are, you are telling us what you are not.” [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Companies claim zero carbon goals but fail to define their identity, focusing on what they are not. **In simple terms:** Zero‑carbon claims lack clear self‑definition. Key Takeaway Define identity before setting goals. Themes sustainability corporate responsibility identity clarity Mood critical skeptical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - corporate reporting - marketing - product development - policy making Key Concepts environmental policy branding strategic planning Questions to Reflect On - How can companies make genuine zero‑carbon pledges? - What does identity mean for sustainability? A Different Perspective Vague goals can be used for green‑washing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon/) [Carbon Ridiculous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon-ridiculous-4301185/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Corporate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporate/) [Reports](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reports/) [Ridiculous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ridiculous/) [Ridiculous Telling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ridiculous-telling-4301186/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Zero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zero/) [Zero Carbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zero-carbon-1242307/) ## Related quotes > [Imagine walking into a grocery there is a jar sitting there with a lid on it saying it's not carbon. That is ridiculous. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/imagine-walking-into-a-grocery-there-is-a-jar-sitting-there-with-a/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [We prefer to talk about 100% renewable instead of zero carbon. When you say zero carbon, you are not positively defined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/we-prefer-to-talk-about-100-renewable-instead-of-zero-carbon-when-you/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [The problem I have with carbon as a bad thing issue, is that people go out and say they want to be zero carbon.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/the-problem-i-have-with-carbon-as-a-bad-thing-issue-is-that-people-go/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [Forget your environmental footprint. Think about your ethical footprint. What good is it to build a zero-carbon, energy efficient complex, when the labor producing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-sinclair/forget-your-environmental-footprint-think-about-your-ethical/) [Cameron Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-sinclair/) > [If you don't like carbon, if you want to be zero carbon, then you might as well shoot yourself, dry up and blow away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/if-you-don-t-like-carbon-if-you-want-to-be-zero-carbon-then-you-might/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [The move to a zero-carbon future is unstoppable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winnie-byanyima/the-move-to-a-zero-carbon-future-is-unstoppable/) [Winnie Byanyima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winnie-byanyima/) > [Achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, identifying treatments to diseases like cancer, and harnessing the power of robotics and artificial intelligence to support…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alok-sharma/achieving-net-zero-carbon-emissions-by-2050-identifying-treatments-to/) [Alok Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alok-sharma/) > [Everything from the infrastructure we build to the products we use must now be aimed squarely at building a zero-carbon world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-lucas/everything-from-the-infrastructure-we-build-to-the-products-we-use/) [Caroline Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-lucas/) > [There is no option but to transform our world to a zero carbon future. We will fight to ensure that no one is left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharan-burrow/there-is-no-option-but-to-transform-our-world-to-a-zero-carbon-future/) [Sharan Burrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharan-burrow/) > [Climate change must be approached as an opportunity to transition our economy to a zero carbon future. Business understands this even when governments don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-gardiner/climate-change-must-be-approached-as-an-opportunity-to-transition-our/) [Barry Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-gardiner/) > [As the people at the sharp end of delivering the government's commitment to tackle climate change we know attaining zero carbon status has always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-shapps/as-the-people-at-the-sharp-end-of-delivering-the-government-s/) [Grant Shapps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-shapps/) > [The U.K. could become a global leader in decommissioning skills and technology as we move to a net-zero-carbon economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-lewis/the-u-k-could-become-a-global-leader-in-decommissioning-skills-and/) [Clive Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-lewis/) > [Natural gas is a very flexible source of energy that can help us bridge the gap between our current high-carbon economy and our zero-carbon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-hayhoe/natural-gas-is-a-very-flexible-source-of-energy-that-can-help-us/) [Katharine Hayhoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-hayhoe/) > [Water is our next great environmental challenge. It is the new oil. How are we going to preserve this sport unless we are designing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/water-is-our-next-great-environmental-challenge-it-is-the-new-oil-how/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [I've got an electric little motorcycle that I go to the supermarket with every day, and it's powered by the solar panels, so it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-mcguinn/i-ve-got-an-electric-little-motorcycle-that-i-go-to-the-supermarket/) [Roger McGuinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-mcguinn/) ## More by William McDonough > [Honor commerce as the engine of change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/honor-commerce-as-the-engine-of-change/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [I am very focused on large-scale deployments of renewable power and how we're going to get this done. Imagine our military bases covered with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/i-am-very-focused-on-large-scale-deployments-of-renewable-power-and/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [You don't filter smokestacks or water. Instead, you put the filter in your head and design the problem out of existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/you-don-t-filter-smokestacks-or-water-instead-you-put-the-filter-in/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [If design is the first signal of human intention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/if-design-is-the-first-signal-of-human-intention/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [ You need that same creative force that exists in a building like Disney \[Walt Disney Concert Hall\] to actually tackle that most prosaic of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/you-need-that-same-creative-force-that-exists-in-a-building-like/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [And to use something as elegant as a tree? Imagine this design assignment: Design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/and-to-use-something-as-elegant-as-a-tree-imagine-this-design/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [I'd so much rather have exciting architecture that causes one to stop, breathe, and reflect on the potential of the human mind, the craft,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/i-d-so-much-rather-have-exciting-architecture-that-causes-one-to-stop/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [To eliminate the concept of waste means to design things-products, packaging, and systems-from the very beginning on the understanding that waste does not exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/to-eliminate-the-concept-of-waste-means-to-design-things-products/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [We are not a green standard, we are a quality standard. We're different, we're multi dimensional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/we-are-not-a-green-standard-we-are-a-quality-standard-we-re-different/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/don-t-get-me-wrong-i-love-nuclear-energy-it-s-just-that-i-prefer/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [If anybody here has trouble with the concept of design humility, reflect on this: It took us 5,000 years to put wheels on our luggage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/if-anybody-here-has-trouble-with-the-concept-of-design-humility/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [The problem I have with carbon as a bad thing issue, is that people go out and say they want to be zero carbon.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/the-problem-i-have-with-carbon-as-a-bad-thing-issue-is-that-people-go/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [If you don't have an end game of something delightful, you're just moving chess pieces around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/if-you-don-t-have-an-end-game-of-something-delightful-you-re-just/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [“Ultimately a regulation is a signal of design failure...it is what we call a license to harm: a permit issued by a government to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/ultimately-a-regulation-is-a-signal-of-design-failure-it-is-what-we/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) > [I just think it is so delightful to see people, let their elbows free. I think the exuberance of it all is really exciting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mcdonough/i-just-think-it-is-so-delightful-to-see-people-let-their-elbows-free/) [William McDonough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) [Explore all 68 William McDonough quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mcdonough/) ## More Carbon quotes > [Windmills and solar cells are carbon-free sources of electricity. But they are costly. If you've been investing in those, give it up. That game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-fisher/windmills-and-solar-cells-are-carbon-free-sources-of-electricity-but/) [Kenneth Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-fisher/) > [every being is unique.god neva creates carbon copies,he alys creates originals.he is truly a creator.he neva repeats.but man goes on living in imitation.we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-being-is-unique-god-neva-creates-carbon-copies-he-alys-creates/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The brightest and most valuable diamond started life as just a lump of carbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dilger/the-brightest-and-most-valuable-diamond-started-life-as-just-a-lump/) [Peter Dilger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dilger/) > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [I love being a carbon molecule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-trussell/i-love-being-a-carbon-molecule/) [Duncan Trussell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-trussell/) > [Coal is the moral choice, particularly for the developing world... The model for the world right now should be Australia. Australia gets it. Scientifically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-morano/coal-is-the-moral-choice-particularly-for-the-developing-world-the/) [Marc Morano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-morano/) > [Each year we pump at least six billion tons of heat-trapping carbon into the innermost layer of our atmosphere, whose outer extent is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-gelbspan/each-year-we-pump-at-least-six-billion-tons-of-heat-trapping-carbon/) [Ross Gelbspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-gelbspan/) > [If every country committed to spending 0.05 per cent of GDP on researching non-carbon-emitting energy technologies, that would cost $25 billion a year, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/if-every-country-committed-to-spending-0-05-per-cent-of-gdp-on/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [We're full of electricity, and the walls and floor of a building contain carbon - the same makeup as a video tape - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-james/we-re-full-of-electricity-and-the-walls-and-floor-of-a-building/) [Peter James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-james/) > [Whether carbon dioxide is quite the environmental villain that some people make it out to be is not yet proven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-abbott/whether-carbon-dioxide-is-quite-the-environmental-villain-that-some/) [Tony Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-abbott/) > [“Steven Apfelbaum, a restoration ecologist in Wisconsin, says that every 1 percent increase in soil carbon holds an additional sixty thousand gallons of water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-d-schwartz/steven-apfelbaum-a-restoration-ecologist-in-wisconsin-says-that-every/) [Judith D. Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-d-schwartz/) > [I want to break up the Wall Street banks. Hillary Clinton doesn't. I want to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/i-want-to-break-up-the-wall-street-banks-hillary-clinton-doesn-t-i/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [I also think that if you want to put a price on carbon, why not just do it with a simple tax? Why not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-abbott/i-also-think-that-if-you-want-to-put-a-price-on-carbon-why-not-just/) [Tony Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-abbott/) > [If you want to make a substantial reduction in your carbon footprint, doing it on your own is virtually impossible, especially if you're driving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-arnold/if-you-want-to-make-a-substantial-reduction-in-your-carbon-footprint/) [Tom Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-arnold/) > [Jesus was not born on December 25th. There's carbon evidence of it. That freaks people out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-skiba/jesus-was-not-born-on-december-25th-there-s-carbon-evidence-of-it/) [Matt Skiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-skiba/) [Browse all 812 Carbon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All these corporate reports say they want zero carbon. 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