Regardless of the good intentions behind green claims, if the message is misleading, or the claim is not adequately substantiated, it exposes the organisation to reputational risk as well as potential legal risk.
As there are an increasing number of regulations across global markets requiring that evidence be available to demonstrate the accuracy of each claim, there are legal consequences for companies that don’t adhere to these requirements.
There are current examples of leading brands spanning a range of sectors who have faced lawsuits, investigations or penalties over disputed truthfulness of a particular green claim.
Develop a robust approach to managing green claims
In mitigating your risk in making green claims, there are a series of steps for building out a robust foundation to support truthful and substantiated green claims.
Our Approach to Green Claims
Policies: Create an internal green claims policy and governance framework
Review: Review and assess existing claims
Evidence: Establish documentation (or verify documentation) of evidence needed to support claims
Prioritise: Map and prioritise the product’s sustainability attributes to ensure claims are material to your organisation
Evaluate: Evaluate which certifications can best support your existing or intended claims
Develop: Develop appropriate, accurate messaging that aligns product and carbon claims with corporate strategy
Adopt: Lead a process of supporting suppliers to adopt company-level claims at the supplier level, building consistency across the whole business model
Education: Develop and facilitate internal education for all relevant stakeholder teams to be trained on greenwashing risks, best practices of green claims, and specific protocols for company green claims governance
This whitepaper sets out the role that certifications can play in assuring green claims and guaranteeing compliance with new sustainability regulations.
It’s been a fantastic project to be part of, and a real pleasure to work with you. Safe to say we would not be in the position we are today without Anthesis.”
Danny Hobson, Head of Product and Supplier Sustainability
Anthesis provided outstanding sustainability and communications expertise on this project which was needed to effectively communicate our product sustainability attributes in an accurate and accessible format.
Supporting our mission of making sustainability happen, Anthesis is proud to work with Amazon on its Climate Pledge Friendly programme, verifying that the external sustainability certifications and standards provide a demonstrable reduction in environmental impact. This programme empowers consumers to make informed choices on their purchasing decisions, with the assurance that products with the Climate Pledge Friendly badge have a genuine claim to be more sustainable.
![RS LOGO RGB standard 1](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 300"%3E%3C/svg%3E "Green Claims")
![logo Accsys Green](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 94"%3E%3C/svg%3E "Green Claims")
![amazon logo](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 91"%3E%3C/svg%3E "Green Claims")
