Consumer Protection Authority of India has come up with The Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Greenwashing or Misleading Environmental Claims, 2024. These guidelines are an extension of the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022

1) Objective of the Guidelines

  • to prevent deceptive or misleading practices related to environmental claims.
  • The guidelines aim to ensure that all environmental claims made by manufacturers, service providers, traders, advertising agencies, and endorsers are truthful, accurate, and substantiated with verifiable evidence.
  • The guidelines are designed to protect consumers from being misled by exaggerated, vague, false, or unsubstantiated environmental claims.
  • The guidelines emphasize the importance of transparency, requiring detailed material information to be disclosed in advertisements or communications.
  • The guidelines also provide specific instructions on how to make environmental claims, ensuring that they are clear, unambiguous, and based on verifiable data.

2) Greenwashing is defined as any deceptive or misleading practice that involves concealing, omitting, or hiding relevant information by exaggerating, making vague, false, or unsubstantiated environmental claims. This can include the use of misleading words, symbols, or imagery that place emphasis on positive environmental aspects while downplaying or concealing harmful attributes

3) What does not constitute Greenwashing

  • Greenwashing does not include the use of obvious hyperboles, puffery, or generic colour schemes or pictures that do not amount to any deceptive or misleading practice.
  • Additionally, the guidelines specifically mentions that a company’s mission statement that is not specific to any product or service does not constitute greenwashing. For example, if a company states in its mission statement that “its growth will be based on sustainability principles,” this will not be treated as an environmental claim. However, if the company adds that “all its products are manufactured in a sustainable manner,” then such a claim will be examined for greenwashing.

4) Advertisers’ liability

Advertisers must ensure that all environmental claims in advertisements are truthful, accurate, and substantiated with verifiable evidence

  • Substantiation: All environmental claims must be supported by accessible, verifiable evidence based on independent studies or third-party certifications.
  • Disclosures: Advertisers must disclose all material information in the relevant advertisement or communication, ensuring that the data from research is not selectively highlighted to obscure unfavourable observations.
  • Comparative Claims: Comparative environmental claims must be based on verifiable and relevant data and must disclose exactly what specific aspects are being compared.
  • Specific Claims: Claims such as “compostable,” “degradable,” “non-toxic,” etc., must be supported by credible certification, reliable scientific evidence, or internal verifiable evidence.
  • Use of Imagery: Visual environmental claims should not manipulate consumers into believing that a product or service is environmentally responsible without providing relevant details or context

5) Endorsers Liability

Endorsers are generally understood as individuals or entities whose services are availed for the advertisement of goods, products, or services. They are often celebrities, influencers, athletes, experts, media reviewers, or product users who leverage their credibility or popularity to promote a product. The guidelines make Endorsers equally responsible for claim and put onus on them to verify the truthfulness of claims based on verifiable evidence.

6) Aspirational or futuristic environmental claims

They can be made only when clear and actionable plans have been developed detailing how those objectives will be achieved. This means that any future-oriented claims about environmental benefits must be backed by specific, actionable steps that outline how the goals will be met.

In conclusion, Greenwashing undermines credible efforts made by businesses, governmental organization and institutions to reduce emissions and address the climate crisis. The guidelines seek to prevent deceptive marketing and false claims of sustainability. Further, guidelines would help to prevent such advertisements that mislead consumers, investors, and the public. Resultantly, hampering the trust, ambition, and action needed to bring about global change and secure a sustainable planet.