It's no secret: Deciphering eco-labels on goods, services, and companies is becoming increasingly difficult.
Today, environmental claims and labels are unreliable. Companies use all kinds of different tactics to convince consumers that their business is more environmentally friendly than it actually is. This practice is called greenwashing, and it's caused consumer trust to plummet.
Greenwashing in numbers:
❗️️ 53% of green claims give vague, misleading, or unfounded information.
❗️ 40% of claims have no supporting evidence.
❗️ There are 230 sustainability labels and 100 green energy labels in the EU, with vastly different levels of transparency.
Good news! In March 2023, the EU adopted a proposal for a Directive on Green Claims that will stop companies from making misleading claims about the environmental merits of their products and services.
Key measures:
✅ Clear criteria on how companies prove environmental claims & labels.
✅ Requirements for claims and labels to be checked by an independent and accredited verifier.
✅ New rules on the governance of environmental labelling schemes to ensure they are solid, transparent, and reliable.
This new law represents a major step toward helping consumers make better-informed purchasing decisions. Best of all, it will give genuinely environmentally responsible businesses a leg up on the competition.
In order to achieve that, companies need not only put the proper processes and rules in place, but also train their employees to comply and embody the company's environmental principles in their day-to-day work. Proper compliance training will allow companies to focus on business, not on correcting false claims.
Together, we can put an end to greenwashing.
Take action now and request a demo.
