Environmental consultancy Quantis has issued a guidance that provides a framework and principles for making environmental footprint claims and includes practical recommendations to avoid greenwashing.
- This guidance includes general best practice when making environmental claims, and recommendations to make claims that are specific, measurable, relevant, understandable and accessible.
- The Guidelines for credible, science-driven environmental footprint claims is designed to support B2B and B2C companies in credibly communicating about their sustainability efforts and the impact of their products and avoiding greenwashing.
- The document has been prepared in accordance with ISO Standards, national or regional guidelines and regulations, and other international guidance documents.
- It is intended for all businesses, most notably their sustainability and marketing teams.
The intent: The purpose of this guidance is to help businesses understand and comply with existing standards and regulations when making environmental claims.
- It should also enable brands to demonstrate thoughtful leadership when making environmental claims in their brand or product communications, by adopting a transparent, science-based, and greenwashing-free approach.
- The principles of this guidance are based primarily on the United Nations (UN) Guidelines for Credible Sustainability Communication and the ISO 14020 family from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Defining the term: Misleading claims and “greenwashing” are declarations about products, services, processes and brands or their operations, that communicate, either directly or by way of omission, the impression that a product or service is either less harmful or better for the environment than it is.
The UN Guidelines: In 2017, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) published Guidelines for Providing Product Sustainability Information.
- This publication was an output of the Consumer Information Programme of the One Planet network, which is co-led by Consumers International and the German and Indonesian Environmental Ministries.
- This work established guidance on making effective, trustworthy claims on product-related sustainability information, defining five fundamental and five aspirational principles.
The recommendations: Quantis defines five principles for clear, credible and transparent claims.
- Environmental claims should be Specific.
- Environmental claims should be Measurable.
- Environmental claims should be Relevant.
- Environmental claims should be Understandable.
- Environmental claims should be Accessible.
