“Climate-neutral”, “bio-based”, “recyclable”: companies like to use these keywords to advertise products that are said to be particularly sustainable. But the requirements are becoming stricter. That could have consequences.
According to experts, stricter requirements for so-called greenwashing should stem the flood of advertising slogans around the topic of sustainability. At the EU level, attempts are being made to give companies clear rules, said Professor Mario Schmidt, who teaches ecological business management at Pforzheim University.
In recent years, terms such as “bio-based”, “recyclable” and “climate-neutral” have increasingly been printed on products. Such statements are often general, misleading and difficult or even impossible to verify. “Of course, consumers are unsettled by such claims,” said Schmidt. Politics regulate here.
Greenwashing is the attempt by companies to present themselves or their products as particularly environmentally friendly. In January, the European Parliament voted to ban vague statements about the environmental impact of products if there is no evidence of this. In addition, a green claims guideline is currently being worked on.
Environmental aid hopes for better information for consumers
“I really hope that consumers can get better information and compare things,” said Thomas Fischer, who heads the circular economy department at the German Environmental Aid Association (DUH). He assumes that companies will become more cautious.
According to Gunter Lescher from the auditing firm PwC, critical observation by consumers, non-governmental organizations, the media and also investors will increase with the increasing sustainability trend. Society is much more critical of the issue of greenwashing than it was just a few years ago.
“Not just a niche phenomenon”
“In this respect, the critical examination of the topic is not just a niche phenomenon that is limited to a small critical group, but rather an overarching social phenomenon that will become much more important in the next few years,” explained Lescher .
In August, the Federal Environment Agency presented a study on environmental awareness in Germany. Accordingly, the aspect of environmental and climate protection continues to be an important issue for the population despite war, crises and inflation. It is very important for 57 percent of people and is the fifth most important challenge, including after the state of the health system (67 percent) and the education system (66 percent).
Source: Stern
