ASA News

ASA puts 'greenwash' in the limelight

15 July 2008

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today published a report detailing the findings of a stakeholder consultation seminar entitled ‘Environmental Claims in Advertising: Is Green a Grey Area?’. The ASA used the seminar to engage with industry, environmental and consumer groups on establishing where problems arise and setting parameters for environmental and ethical claims.

The June event was held in response to rising concern over what consumers and campaigners see as ‘greenwash’. Claims about CO2 emissions such as carbon ‘neutral’, ‘zero’ or ‘negative’ are particularly open to challenge, as are absolute claims such as ‘100% recycled’ or ‘wholly sustainable’.

The ASA acknowledged that the increased public awareness of environmental issues coupled with fast evolving scientific knowledge and the prolific rise in green initiatives pose a tough challenge for advertisers in ensuring their claims comply with the rules and regulations. A key objective of the consultation event was to give advertisers greater clarity about the current rules on environmental claims to help prevent consumers from being misled or confused, and to gauge stakeholder opinion on the challenges they face.

Guest speakers John Grant, author of The Green Marketing Manifesto and Ed Mayo, Chief Executive of the New National Consumer Council (NCC) laid out their views on the importance of avoiding ‘greenwash’ and maintaining consumer trust through truthful green marketing messages.

Today’s report details the findings from the seminar. Overall there was consensus amongst delegates that the ASA has an important role to play in setting parameters for green claims and helping advertisers to ensure their claims are legitimate. Highlighting the fluidity of the topic due to evolving scientific knowledge, the ASA will work with agencies and companies to bolster technical understanding of issues and existing rules on environmental claims.

ASA Chairman, Lord Smith said “Companies should be aware of the rise in consumer awareness of environmental and ethical issues alongside confusion and scepticism. The ASA does not want to discourage companies from communicating their initiatives but to help them to do so in a credible and responsible way. This report has given the ASA a very useful yardstick by which to gauge opinion of industry, consumer and environmental groups in a fast evolving area. However, there is still a wider need for consistent benchmarks and clear guidance on these issues. We will play our part by working with experts to ensure the ASA continues to evaluate claims effectively and fairly.”