The Competition & Markets Authority Green Claims Code is a set of guidelines designed to prevent UK businesses from misleading consumers with “greenwashing” or false sustainable claims.
Essentially, it requires all eco-friendly claims to be truthful, accurate, clear, unambiguous, substantiated, and based on the full product life cycle and supply chain.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
LIABILITY. Any business that makes or repeats a sustainability claim can be held legally responsible if the claim is misleading, regardless of intent or good faith.
Retailers are now directly exposed. Adding eco-labels or sustainable credentials to product pages can now prompt immediate investigations and penalties.
The CMA can enforce without court proceedings. They have the power to impose fines, mandate business practice changes and require the business to provide compensation to consumers directly.
If consumers need to click, expand or scan to access clarifying environmental information, the claim can be deemed misleading.
Compliance guidance such as evidence, verification, or reviewed claims do not guarantee safety from legal action. The safest legal option for brands may be to say nothing at all if they lack the proper sustainable definitions, proof or benchmarks.
The crackdown on greenwashing is intensifying which will ultimately amplify sustainability transparency in fashion.
Meanwhile, new regulations may discourage responsible brands from communicating sustainable messaging at all.
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