Greenwash is an environmental claim which is unsubstantiated.
And greenwash is growing. The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK is upholding more and
more complaints against advertising that can’t live up to its green bluster. Around the world regulators
are trying to keep up, and the USA’s Federal Trade Commission has brought forward to 2008 its plan
to review their environmental marketing guidelines. France has just announced new guidelines and the UK is reviewing the advertising Green Claims guidance. But is this enough?
Why all the fuss? business towards greater greenness. Greenwash is the spanner in the works that could sabotage the
whole environmental movement within business. This guide reveals the industries most actively greenwashing, and those environmental claims most likely to be greenwash. Not enough is being
done to prevent this accelerating negative feedback loop. None of the UK’s biggest advertising agencies
claim to have training or guidelines for their staff on what is a justified green claim. And none of the main publications in the UK who sell advertising space
have their own standard.
