The recent release of the Competition Bureau’s report on environmental guidelines has generated good discussion around the need to clamp down on “greenwashing” but ends up providing fewer deterrents for greenwashers then acting as a reiteration of old guidelines.

In the Competition Bureau report Environmental claims: A guide for industry and advertisers, best practices for users of ISO 14021 (Type II environmental labeling or self-declared environmental claims) are provided for use in the Canadian marketplace.

Compliance to certain provisions of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and the Textile Labelling Act is encouraged in this report, but only enforcement can provide real teeth. The Competition Bureau’s report provides useful guidelines for industry and advertising professionals but tends to be more bureaucratic and less useful to this audience.

While Canada is ahead of the United States, which has the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines, Europe and Australia both appear to have stricter enforcement in place. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched legal proceedings this past winter against GM Holden Ltd for allegedly making false representations in numerous “Saab is Green” vehicle advertisements, claiming them to be carbon neutral. Norway has banned the use of any such claims in reference to vehicles.

TerraChoice Environmental Marketing submitted comments to the Competition Bureau and has testified in front of the FTC, making reference to the real dangers of greenwashing (the Six Sins of GreenwashingTM). Coincidence or not, both Bureaus soon afterwards issued their environmental claims guidelines.

While the Competition Bureau guidelines are useful, what we really need is enforcement of the laws already in place. For marketers and industry professionals, this will mean stricter adherence to environmental labeling standards. For consumers, it will mean a move toward a truthfully sustainable marketplace.

Posted by KateRusnak in Marketing