Government urged to tackle greenwash

• Apr. 1 by Natalie Adcock (2)

A clear system of environmental labelling is needed to tackle the growing problem of greenwash, the deceptive use of promotion concerning how environmentally friendly products are, a report released this week claims.

The Environmental Audit Committee are calling for the Government to introduce a universal scheme that uses clear, simple criteria and propose that an independent body should monitor and verify the declarations made about products.

This will result in customer confidence in green claims and the Committee argues that there should be a public awareness of this scheme so that people can make informed choices when buying products ranging from shampoos to cars.

Birmingham based Cadbury this Easter reduced their carbon footprint by cutting the packaging of medium eggs by 25% and large eggs by 36%, but a labeling system would make it clear how they compare to other Easter eggs, such as a Marks and Spencer product which saw packaging reduced by 90% from last year.

The Advertising Standards Agency was last year clamping down on false green claims made in adverts, such as Fiat implying that their low emission vehicles were cheaper than they are in reality.

Colin Challen MP, Chairman of the Environmental Information Sub-Committee, said:

“A robust labelling regime would change the way many businesses behave and help drive up environmental standards across whole sectors of the economy.”