Greenwashing, or climate-washing, is a deceptive practice where companies falsely portray themselves or their products as sustainable, making it crucial for consumers to understand and detect it to ensure that genuine green transitions are driven by entities truly committed to measurable and time-bound environmental actions.
Greenwashing definition
The term greenwashing originated in the 1980s, and was coined by environmentalists who began to observe misleading commercial and communication practices in sectors such as hospitality.
It is a combination of the words “green” and “washing”, referring to a “whitewashing” of a company’s image, but in this case in an environmental context – where unsustainable actions are hidden or disguised under a green façade to clean up its business through misleading information. The term emerged as a response to marketing strategies that were seeking to capitalise on growing environmental awareness without a genuine commitment to sustainability.
Greenwashing examples
There have been high-profile cases of greenwashed communication and advertising campaigns of large multinationals in sectors as varied as oil, fashion, cosmetics, mobile technology, decoration and fast food and coffee shop chains.
Disinformation in these cases has been used in different ways by these companies:
- Through the promotion of a line of products as “ecofriendly”, when they were the same as conventional products, without providing any evidence to support this differentiation.
- Diverting attention by promoting a very small proportion of its business, which is not extrapolated to the rest of the company’s activity.
- With beneficial claims or acknowledgements about a product for which the source was not provided.
- With inspirational adjectives in the names and slogans and the informational part hidden in the small print.
- Highlighting seemingly positive images or data, but actually irrelevant to the sustainability of the product in question.
- With advertising campaigns that exaggerate sustainable efforts.
How to identify greenwashing
Unmasking greenwashing can sometimes be challenging, but in some instances, it is relatively easy by using a few simple checks to determine whether a company is genuinely environmentally conscious and committed to the green transition.
Questions to identify greenwashed information
- Consistency of message. If we see a particular offer or product calling itself “green” or “sustainable”, we should take a look at other products or services from the same company and the messages they advertise with, to see if there is consistency between their environmental message and their actual business practices.
- Inconsistencies or vagueness. It is important to pay attention to the words used to sell something like “green”. What exactly does this mean? Sudden changes in narrative, empty words or vague claims without tangible support are signs that could indicate greenwashing.
- Third-party certifications. When someone ensures characteristics of a product or service, such as “renewable”, “sustainable”, “recycled”, “ecological”, “local”, or through the use of prefixes such as “bio” or “eco”, we must demand as consumers some kind of certification or reliable third-party seal of approval, which guarantees that these are not false eco-friendly adjectives. Appearance in sustainability indexes and reports is also valuable.
- Sustainability policies. If we want to go deeper, every large company should have a public sustainability policy that we can investigate to see if they are being 100% honest about their commitments in their advertising. We may also be interested in their annual sustainability reports.
Policies to protect against greenwashing
Businesses using greenwashing not only can face reputational damage, but they can also get into legal trouble. From this point of view, institutions in different territories have already taken action to discourage companies from the use of these misleading practices.
European Union
Two directives aimed at protecting consumers are being processed in the European Union. A regulation already approved by the European Parliament considers that promoting claims about the sustainable content of products without sufficient proof and approved certification by an officially recognised institution is considered an unfair commercial practice and therefore punishable.
In particular, claims that rely on the supposedly neutral or positive effect on the environment, based on greenhouse gas offsetting practices, are prohibited. Businesses trying to clean up their image with such campaigns could face legal action and fines for misleading business practices.
United Kingdom
In the UK, although there is currently no specific legislation against greenwashing, businesses falsely advertising products as “green” or sustainable can be caught by existing laws. Advertising and marketing materials, including claims relating to environmental friendliness, are subject to oversight by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). They must be subject, for example, to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, enforced by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which prohibits unfair commercial practices, including false environmental claims. If a business is found guilty, it can face substantial fines.
United States
In the United States, the fight against greenwashing is addressed through various legal and regulatory measures including, among others: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines, state consumer protection laws, and sector-specific regulations, such as those led by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Notably, in 2021 the Securities and Exchange Commission launched an Enforcement Task Force to identify climate and ESG misconduct –initially focused on greenwashing by identifying material gaps or misstatements in investor disclosure materials.
