24 Mar Greenwashing: What does it mean? Why should we eradicate it?
Greenwashing is a communication and marketing strategy adopted by companies or other organizations. It consists of putting forward ecological arguments to create an eco-responsible image in the eyes of the public, when the reality of the facts does not correspond, or insufficiently so, to the explicit or implicit content of the messages disseminated.
Greenwashing generates confusion that is detrimental to structures that are genuinely committed to CSR and sustainable development. Considered as abusive or misleading advertising, it is notably fought against through EU regulations that increase the pressure on stakeholders.
For example, in January, the European Commission and national consumer authorities released the results of a screening of websites called a « sweep », this year it was focused on greenwashing.
In their overall assessments, taking various factors into account, in 42% of cases authorities had reason to believe that the claim may be false or deceptive and could therefore potentially amount to an unfair commercial practice under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. Find more information on the screening over here.
The final idea to eradicate Greenwashing is to increase transparency and promote better practices in terms of sustainability in order to really induce a positive impact.
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