What the Green Claims Code checklist means for businesses

People are wanting to buy green more than ever before and rely on businesses' environmental claims to make sustainable purchasing decisions. To help reduce the risk of greenwashing, last month saw the UK government publish the Green Claims Code checklist to help businesses show accountability and credibility in their green claims.

The five points from the checklist are:

• Are your claims truthful and accurate?
• Are your claims clear, and unambiguous?
• Do your claims omit or hide important information?
• Do the claims only make fair and meaningful comparisons?
• Have you substantiated your claims with sufficient evidence?

How does this impact your business?

The guidance will regulate businesses to get it right, and to ensure both consumers and investors aren’t misled by your green claims, as this will only put your reputation at risk. The consequences of misleading environmental claims could result in large environmental penalties and court proceedings.

Andrew Tasker, Principal Consultant – UK comments: “The Green Claims Code is there for businesses to stay on course and avoid deceiving customers in any way. It gives investors or clients purchasing a product, from anyone that is making an environmental claim, peace of mind that the proper due diligence and procedures have taken place.

“Being aware of the consequences, both financially, environmentally and reputation-wise, is crucial to any business when promising claims of net zero carbon or carbon neutral, by a set time period. There is a lot of greenwashing that could take place, and as a business, RPS can help give that level of assurance in verifying your claims. Having a third party reviewing your targets, commitments and strategy is key.”

If you want to discuss your business’ green claims further, or have questions around what services we can provide to assist, please get in touch below.

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