Tesco's £100m environment fund for developing sustainable technologies has been praised. But how green is it really, asks Simon Creasey It's timing can't be faulted. On the same day that Tesco announced ­profits of £2.2bn, it also unveiled a new £100m environment fund to finance innovation in sustainable environmental technologies throughout the group's business and create the greenest supermarket in the world (see box on the right). Some cynics suggest that this, like its ten-point 'Tesco in the community' plan, is merely a ­diversionary PR tactic - a greenwash initiative led by the group's marketing team with little genuine substance behind it. Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy denies this, arguing: "£100m is not a PR stunt." Financial analysts posit yet another theory: that Leahy and his cohorts are only too aware of investor pressure on ethical concerns and that the announcement was partly in response to the rapid growth and increasing influence of socially responsible investment (SRI) funds.