By Claire Fennelow
Last week I facilitated a fascinating panel session on greenwashing at the Event Sustainability Live show at ExCeL I was joined by Sam Wilson of Syntiro Associates, Dr Dominic Tantram of Terrafiniti and Tara Blackburn of the Hearst Publishing Group. All are steeped in sustainability and as a consequence the thorny issue of greenwashing. Greenwashing is the practice whereby companies and brands either intentionally or unintentionally overclaim their sustainability credentials. And it’s rife.
Not only does it erode trust in your company or brand but is in contravention of the Green Claims Code. If found in breach of the code very large fines can now be levied against the company or brand. In additional the reputational damage can be significant and leads to lack of trust from customers.
In the events industry, agencies are finding more and more clients are requiring the agency to be very specific about their sustainability policies as any greenwashing would be a very risky business if discovered. Everyone is therefore responsible for ensuring all statements can be verified and substantiated to avoid any misinterpretation. It seemed that many in the audience were as unaware as I was of this growing issue so it was a fantastic opportunity to learn from the experts. I would urge you all to look into the support materials suggested below.
Sam Wilson has developed and recently launched the BOSS app to help guide you through the process and Dr Dominic Tantram has produced an excellent guide to greenwashing and how to avoid it:
