Make effective claims to avoid greenwashing

What is this action about?

According to ISO 14021 standard, sustainability claims are a statement, symbol, or graphic that indicates an environmental aspect of a product, a component, or packaging. Claims can be made in many forms, including both words and pictures, and they can be either expressed or implied. 

Making and advertising sustainability claims is not entirely risk-free. There’s a thin line between legitimate (and common) advertising exaggeration and misleading consumers by overstating sustainability performance – i.e., “greenwashing”. 

Regulators and watchdogs such as the EU Initiative on Green Claims and the UN High-level Expert Group are increasingly taking action against greenwashing. A recent screening of websites for ‘greenwashing' revealed that national consumer protection authorities had reason to believe that in 42% of cases the claims were exaggerated, false, or deceptive.

In many jurisdictions, engaging in greenwashing is an offense as it misleads market actors and does not give due advantage to those companies that are trying to genuinely make their products and activities more sustainable.

To assist companies in making accurate claims, several consumer protection authorities have drawn up guidelines that form the basis for this action.