Top of the page

The Abbey Information Exchange: The Importance of Following the Green Claims Code

Friday, 17 June 2022

The Importance of Following the Green Claims Code

Being an environmentally friendly business is something to shout about. These days, terms like ‘sustainable’, ‘eco-friendly’ and ‘recyclable’ are commonplace. However, unless there is evidence to back these green claims, it is illegal to use them in your marketing. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in a global review of randomly selected websites in January 2021 found that 40% of green claims made online could be misleading consumers. Therefore, in a bid to tackle greenwashing, the CMA published The Green Claims Code designed to help businesses promote their eco credentials without misleading customers.

Here’s how you can use the Green Claims Code to avoid misleading your customers:

The Green Claims Code comprises of six principals drawn from existing consumer law. Any eco-friendly claims must comply with the following six statements, with businesses risking facing legal action if environmental claims fail to adhere to the rules.
  • Claims must be truthful and accurate.
  • Claims must be clear and unambiguous.
  • Claims must not omit or hide important relevant information.
  • Comparisons must be fair and meaningful.
  • Claims must consider the full life cycle of the product or service and does not mislead people about other parts or the overall impact on the environment.
  • Claims must be substantiated with up to date and credible evidence.

How to avoid unintentional greenwashing

First of all look at the green claims you are making and the format in which you are reaching your audience. Is there any way your claims could be misinterpreted by your consumers?

Here’s a quick example of a misleading claim. A cup has 100% compostable written on the packaging. This suggests that using this cup is better for the environment than other cups. Sounds great right? However, the cup is only compostable in industrial composts. This claim is untruthful through the omission of information and is therefore misleading.  

Don’t forget the supply chain 

Consider the impact of your scope 3 emissions. This means all your indirect greenhouse emissions across your value chain. This includes, for example, the greenhouse emissions produced because of the transportation of raw materials and the distribution of your products to your customers.

Avoid vague terms

Avoid making vague claims like “eco-friendly” or “all-natural”. If you do use general claims such as eco-friendly, green or sustainable, the claim must reflect the whole life cycle of the brand, product, business or service and must be justified by the all-important evidence. For example, if you are advertising ‘sustainable cotton’ this must apply to the product’s whole life cycle from manufacture to disposal. It could be that the cotton is sustainably sourced but is not itself sustainable when factoring in other aspects such as transportation and dying.

Honesty is the best policy 

Being honest and transparent about your green credentials will help gain customer’s trust. Customers can judge you just as much on what you don’t say as well as on what you do say. If you want to be more sustainable and help the environment but maybe still have some work to do, communicate this to your customers. Rather than making false claims and risk damaging your reputation, let them know your green goals and the steps you are taking, however small they may be.

The Green Claims code was designed to protect and support those conscientious businesses who are less concerned about merely reputation and ‘following the trend’ but are genuinely incorporating sustainable business practices. By helping these businesses promote their green practices honestly and thereby preventing businesses from greenwashing, the GCC will hopefully increase conscientious customers’ overall trust in businesses who claim to be green, which will only increase the value of any green strategy within your business.