In an era when sustainability sells, “greenwashing” has clouded the landscape of environmental responsibility. Greenwashing is the deceptive marketing practice of deliberately overstating a product or company’s eco-friendly attributes to manipulate the customer. This practice has infiltrated many industries, making it difficult for people to choose products made by companies with truly sustainable practices.
Let’s explore the anatomy of greenwashing, including common tactics used by brands, the impact on consumers, and telltale signs of greenwashing. By learning to identify greenwashing, people can make more informed purchasing decisions and avoid giving money to companies that make false or exaggerated claims of sustainability and eco-friendliness.
What Is Greenwashing?
Greenwashing occurs when a company misleads or outright lies to the public or investors regarding the environmental impact of its products and operations in order to manipulate them. Another common form of greenwashing is when a company attempts to highlight certain sustainable traits of a product to divert attention from the company’s other, environmentally harmful, practices.
As the dangers of climate change have become recognized and understood, companies are beginning to capitalize on the growing eco-consciousness of consumers by releasing “green” products. While some companies make legitimately sustainable products, others use deceptive tactics to exaggerate the sustainability of their product and production processes.
Common Greenwashing Tactics
Companies can engage in greenwashing in various forms. Some of these tactics are obvious, while others are subtler and harder to identify. Common examples include claiming progress towards emissions reductions without an explicit, publicly articulated plan; intentional ambiguity regarding the operations and materials the company uses; and using misleading labels like “green,” “sustainable,” or “eco-friendly,” which lack standardized definitions.
Companies may celebrate minor improvements as substantial advancements or overemphasize the fact that their products have met basic regulatory requirements. Selective focus on one eco-friendly feature while disregarding the broader impact of the product is another common tactic.
Companies that engage in greenwashing often emphasize the sustainable aspects of a product, separating these aspects from the overall impact of the company’s activities. For example, a clothing company might emphasize the fact that their products are made with recyclable materials in their marketing campaigns, while strategically not mentioning the fact that these products are produced in a factory with high carbon emissions.
Impact of Greenwashing
Greenwashing affects the choices consumers make, social perceptions of products, and the reputations of companies. It is a distortion that can sway purchasing decisions and nudge buyers towards products that may not align with their values. This misleading marketing dilutes trust in brands and blurs the line between genuine eco-conscious products and token gestures.
However, the consequences of greenwashing extend beyond commerce. Companies that engage in greenwashing are damaging the environment, and the environmental movement at large. The consensus among climate change scientists is that carbon emissions must be cut in half before the end of the current decade and reduced to net zero by 2050 to mitigate the impact of climate change and keep the planet habitable for future generations.
Many companies are currently making genuine efforts to reduce or eliminate their emissions in using this timeline. Consumer trust and literal buy-in is key to the success of these genuinely eco-friendly companies. Greenwashing damages the trust in their own companies as well as these eco-friendly companies by sowing confusion and doubt among consumers. This can make it difficult for eco-friendly alternatives to gain a foothold in the market, which hampers global progress towards emissions reduction goals.
Strategies to Combat Greenwashing
The United Nations has recognized the increase in greenwashing and the dangers it poses to the global fight against climate change. A UN panel has recommended the following five strategies to help companies avoid greenwashing and to ensure that efforts to produce more environmentally friendly products are sincere.
1. Net Zero Pledges with Specific Targets
Many companies have publicly voiced their intentions to try and reach net-zero emissions by the year 2050. However, for these claims to be believable, companies need to be specific about how they will reach this goal. Organizational leadership should include specific targets for 2025, 2030, and 2035. A specific plan and data should be used to show how the company will reach a 50 percent cut in emissions by 2030 and how it will reach and stay at net zero emissions after 2050.
2. A Transition Plan
After setting goals, organizations should craft a plan that outlines exactly how these goals will be reached. This plan should account for uncertainties and obstacles and should be updated regularly to account for any changes that could impact the plan. Transition plans should also consider workers’ rights and the communities that could be affected by the shift to net-zero emissions.
3. Transparency and Accountability
The public currently lacks easy access to information regarding eco-friendly plans, targets, and pledges by companies and non-government organizations. These organizations should publish all information related to environmental projects so that the public can be aware of these plans. The UN has also called on organizations to annually publish information on their greenhouse gas emissions compared to those of other organizations.
4. Fossil Fuel Phase-Out and Scaling of Renewable Energy
A significant shift away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy will be crucial. Organizations and local governments need to both work towards stopping the development of new fossil fuel reserves and opt to invest in renewable alternatives instead.
5. Voluntary Carbon Credits
Voluntary carbon credits offer a means to offset emissions, especially in developing nations. Stringent regulation is essential to ensure impactful reductions in global emissions. Encouraging organizations to use carbon credits after meeting interim targets could potentially yield major results.