An Integrated Framework to Assess Greenwashing

Nemes, Noémi; Scanlan, Stephen J.; Smith, Pete; Smith, Tone; Aronczyk, Melissa; Hill, Stephanie; Lewis, Simon L.; Montgomery, A. Wren; Tubiello, Francesco N.; Stabinsky, Doreen

doi:10.3390/su14084431

Cited by 82 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Therefore, companies should think carefully about how they communicate their motives to internal stakeholders in the most transparent manner. To avoid pitfalls in green communication, managers can use assessment tools (e.g., Nemes et al, 2022) to systematically evaluate claims for potential greenwashing and as a guide to avoid greenwashing in environmental communications.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employees' response to corporate greenwashing

2023

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Research on corporate greenwashing has expanded rapidly in recent years. At the same time, emerging studies in related literatures have found that employees are seeking out firms that are social and environmental leaders, and employee activism within firms is growing. However, the effect of firms' exaggeration and misrepresentation of environmental claims, or greenwashing, on their own employees has been overlooked. Accordingly, we investigate greenwashing from an organizational psychology lens, exploring the impact it can have on employees, and whether these effects differ for different types of employees. Using data collected at three separate time points from a sample of employees educated in environmental science/sustainability, our results show that greenwashing was positively related to perceptions of corporate hypocrisy, which in turn, resulted in higher turnover intentions. We also found that these relationships were moderated by employees' level of environmental education. By uncovering the deleterious effects greenwashing can have for employees, and by extension for their employers, these findings generate insights into the extent to which corporate environmental communications can backfire.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employees' response to corporate greenwashing

2023

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“…With the increasing stakeholder preference for sustainable brands, products and services, [ 30 ] some companies feel compelled to overstate their climate performance for reputational gains and increased market share [ 23 ] —a practice typically referred to as “greenwashing.” [ 45 , 46 , 47 ] As definitions of greenwashing vary between stakeholders, and greenwashing is widely acknowledged to take on various forms and vary in its degree, it may be difficult to ascertain with confidence when greenwashing is taking place and whether it is indeed intentional. [ 48 , 49 ] Notwithstanding, the frontloading of climate change mitigation‐related claims which are not matched with similar ambition in tangible action may be considered “greenwashing” or “carbonwashing”, as it gives the false impression of corporate climate action being undertaken when this is in fact not the case. [ 50 ] Over the last decades, greenwashing has become so common in corporate marketing practices [ 51 ] that it has, according to some advertising experts, reached epidemic proportions.…”

Section: Contextualizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the Use of Carbon Credits by Companies: A Review of the Defining Elements of Corporate Climate Claims

et al. 2023

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taking climate action and 2217 companies with approved science-based targets. [1,2] Corporate climate commitments are usually followed by a public announcement that the company intends to become "net-zero", that is, reduce and eventually eliminate its negative climate impact by a certain date, often around mid-century. [3] Many companies that are currently marketing "carbon-neutral" products and services also claim to have already fully "neutralized" the greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts of such products. [4] Most of today's corporate climate claims-not only carbon neutral and net zero, but also carbon negative, carbon free, climate neutral and climate positive-rely to a greater or lesser extent on the use of carbon credits generated from voluntary carbon markets to offset corporate emissions. [3][4][5] This large and ever-increasing number of claims inevitably raises the question: are such corporate climate claims accurately reflecting the efforts undertaken by companies to mitigate climate change? Few companies release details on whether offsetting is used to complement or substitute investments into abatement of GHG emissions generated by a company's operations or within its value chain. [3,4,[6][7][8] The lack of transparency around climate-related claims casts a shadow over companies' climate Worldwide, companies are increasingly making claims about their current climate efforts and their future mitigation commitments. These claims tend to be underpinned by carbon credits issued in voluntary carbon markets to offset emissions. Corporate climate claims are largely unregulated which means that they are often (perceived to be) misleading and deceptive. As such, corporate climate claims risk undermining, rather than contributing to, global climate mitigation. This paper takes as its point of departure the proposition that a better understanding of corporate climate claims is needed to govern such claims in a manner that adequately addresses potential greenwashing risks. To that end, the paper reviews the nascent literature on corporate climate claims relying on the use of voluntary carbon credits. Drawing on the reviewed literature, three key dimensions of corporate climate claims as related to carbon credits are discussed: 1) the intended use of carbon credits: offsetting versus non-offsetting claims; 2) the framing and meaning of headline terms: net-zero versus carbon neutral claims; and 3) the status of the claim: future aspirational commitments versus stated achievements. The paper thereby offers a preliminary categorization of corporate climate claims and discusses risks associated with and governance implications for each of these categories.

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“…This need was felt by the competent European authorities, which in the area of environmental sustainability policy stressed the importance of the role played by the market and the need to ensure that green claims are true, reliable, verifiable and comparable, to prevent the phenomenon known as greenwashing or misleading marketing (Nemes et al , 2022). For greenwashing, a term that should literally be translated as “washing in green” and, whose current meaning is “facade sustainability”, generally means the practice of communicating to the user, in a false or misleading way, environmental or sustainable characteristics of products or services that do not actually exist or do not exactly correspond to the description made (De Freitas Netto et al , 2020).…”

Section: The Protection Of Consumer Information In the Green Market: ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Abuse of consumer trust in the digital market and the green market: the case of green washing in the Italian legal system

Marcatajo

2022

JFC

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer some reflection on the abuse of consumer trust and the importance of control of information in the digital market and the green market. The role of the consumer as the arbiter of the market is fundamental. The abuse of consumer confidence depends, in fact, on the spread of stereotyped messages and vague and generic formulas aimed at hiding a dangerous vacuum of protection. In both markets, it is a question of giving the consumer the necessary tools to monitor the transparency of the criteria used by the trader to classify a product according to its characteristics. Design/methodology/approach Based on the analysis of an Italian case law and the European programme, the author shows how in Italy there is a dangerous lack of consumer protection. The problem is that the green consumer, as well as the online consumer, is not able to immediately verify the accuracy of the product requirements and must be able to count on the seriousness of the professional. For this reason, the European and national authorities have provided specific rules for both markets. The new proposal of directive introduces specific rules to target unfair commercial practices that mislead consumers away from sustainable consumption choices and introduced many innovations, such as the ban on greenwashing. Findings This work aims to identify the tools necessary to make the information on the products offered in the digital market and those related to green products more reliable but above all to create a common methodology on which to base them. High is the risk that sustainability will become a simple marketing strategy for companies. The difficulty consists in the absence of certain and verifiable parameters by the consumer to really measure the characteristics and the quality of a product characteristic of a product compared to competing ones. Originality/value This work examines the problem of consumer protection in the digital and green market from a new perspective, comparing the information asymmetries with respect to the professionals in the two markets. Starting from the cases of greenwashing and analysing new European remedies, the author suggests for both markets, specific answers different from those required for advertising in general. The problem here is not only the truth of the message but also the vagueness and genericity. The consumer must be in a position to control the criteria used by the professional to classify products, both in the green and the digital market. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the original work of the author and has not been submitted elsewhere for publication.

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An Integrated Framework to Assess Greenwashing

Cited by 82 publications

References 22 publications

Employees' response to corporate greenwashing

Employees' response to corporate greenwashing

Understanding the Use of Carbon Credits by Companies: A Review of the Defining Elements of Corporate Climate Claims

Abuse of consumer trust in the digital market and the green market: the case of green washing in the Italian legal system

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