Greenwashing – Out With The Old, In With The New

A new perspective on greenwashing risk and opportunity

The Green Label Dilemma

Walk into almost any store and you'll be greeted by products promising eco-friendliness, low emissions, and carbon neutrality. The imagery is soothing—leaves, rivers, and bright green logos all signalling, "You're making a better choice." But are you? That's the question regulators, investors, and consumers are asking. And increasingly, the answer is not always.

Green claims of various types are not new. Businesses have been making them for years with various degrees of veracity and accountability. Historically, regulators and stakeholders have been only mildly interested. Forward-thinking companies devoted resources to ensuring that their green claims had some basis. Others regarded the exercise as primarily a marketing one and treated it accordingly.