192 g CO2/km
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Transcript 192 g CO2/km
GET RID OF
GREENWASH
– a FLAGSHIP
CAMPAIGN?
General Assembly
Brussels, November 14, 2013
Rational behind proposed flagship
campaign
Green claims often used as a
marketing tool in order to influence
consumer decision to buy a product
“Green” products are often sold at a
higher price
If green claims are misleading,
consumer detriment is not only
economical, but can de-motivate
consumers to engage in sustainable
consumption in the future
Numerous examples of
green claims in Europe
misleading
Low trust among consumers of
environmental claims
Eurobarometer
2013):
367
(July
Only a bit more than half
of EU citizens generally
trust producers‘ claims
about the environmental
performance
of
their
products
Study by Consumer Focus
(2009):
58% of consumers think
a
lot
of
companies
pretend to be green just
to charge higher prices
Example 1 (appliances): „Very energy
saving refrigerator“
The consumer center Hamburg (a vzbv member) took legal action
against retailer Media Markt in 2010
Media Markt used the slogan “very energy saving” for
refrigerator/freezer which was of energy efficiency class “A”.
This had been considered to be
misleading as 308 out of 543
appliances already belonged to
class “A+” and almost 17% of
all available appliances on the
German market belonged even
to energy efficiency class
“A++”.
As
the
consumer
center
Hamburg won the case, the
retailer was not allowed to use
this advertisement anymore
a
Example 2 (appliances): Which? Test
of small electrical appliances
Which?
Performed own
tests on small
appliances
E.g.
Bosch
steam
generator used
more
water
and consumed
more energy in
its „eco mode“
that on „max
steam“
No legal action
taken
Example 3 (textiles):Lidl not allowed
to use term „natural product“ for
textiles made of lyocell
Lidl used to advertise textiles made of
lyocell as a „natural product“
In order to produce lyocell, large
amounts of chemicals and energy are
necessary
Verbraucherzentrale Hamburg issued a
notice of warning against Lidl
VZHH demanded the company to
cease and desist from the advertising
–> Lidl signed declaration
If Lidl fails to comply, VZHH might
take case to court
Example 4 (toilet cleaners): Tesco
naturally (UK) – test by which?
As a result of
which?
investigation,
Tesco
is
removing
claim
„no
phosphates“
Example 5 (cars): Opel advertisement
„Insignia ecoFlex“: loads of fun of
driving & low fuel consumption (2009)
VZBV
admonished
Opel
as
manufacturer
advertised
its
model „Insignia ecoFlex“
with
„climate friendly CO2 emissions“
Opel agreed not to
slogan in the future
use
this
No EU legislation harmonising
environmental marketing
Green claims partly covered by specific legislation prohibiting the
misleading use of the claims used (e.g. organic labels, energy
labelling, etc.)
Outside those aspects covered by specific EU legislation, general
provisions of the Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices are to be
used when assessing environmental claims
UCPD does not include
environmental claims:
specific
provisions
on
misleading
It is the general clauses that apply, meaning that the
assessment of a misleading green claim must be done on a
case-by-case basis
Full harmonization effect of UCPD does not allow MS to adopt
more ambitious provisions, e.g. through general prohibitions on
the use of certain terms (e.g. Eco-friendly)
Objectives of campaign:
Consumers are not being rippedoff by misleading green claims
(1)
To stop the use of blatantly misleading green claims
(concrete products/claims identified at a later stage);
(2)
To show possibilities for redress;
(3)
To make consumers aware how to recognize a misleading
green claim;
(4)
To work with national authorities or businesses where
relevant to further target misleading green claims;
(5)
To lobby for more ambitious guidelines under the Unfair
Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) to effectively
combat misleading green claims
Strategy of flagship campaign –
EU level
Collecting examples of misleading green claims
Quantification of consumer harm in cases of misleading green
claims;
Enforcement campaign: coordinated enforcement actions
(injunctions, complaints to national authorities, negotiations with
business etc.)
Assembling information on redress possibilities in each country;
Push for appropriate EU regulatory action (e.g. revision of Unfair
Commercial Practices Directive)
Strategy of flagship campaign –
Member State level
Preparation of evidence: provide consumer complaints, cases,
potentially surveys to „build the case“
Participate in coordinated enforcement activities – taking
injunction actions to courts or national enforcement activities
Inform BEUC secretariat about concrete
consumers to get redress in those cases
possibilities
for
Help develop communication material
Do media work at national level
Participate in awareness building strategy and activities how to
recognize misleading green claims
Annex
What is a „misleading green
claim“? (p. 37 UCPD Guidance
Document)
The expressions "environmental claims"
or "green claims" refer to the practice of
suggesting or otherwise creating the
impression that a product or a service, is
environmentally friendly or is less
damaging to the environment than
competing goods or services.
When such claims are not true or cannot
be verified this practice can be described
as 'greenwashing'.
Example 6 (cars): Lexus ad banned in
the UK (2007)
Ad for Lexus RX 400h car (192 g CO2/km): „High performance. Low
emissions. Zero guilt.“
Advertising Standards Authority decided that even though the car‘s CO2
emissions were low compared to similar cars, absolute emissions are still
very high and this would give a misleading impression that this car is
environmentally friendly
Example of „possible“ misleading ads
(no legal action taken) from 2012
New Renault Espace ad (2012) –
„Nature will reward you. Taxes as
well“
Similar case to Lexus example in the
UK from 2007?
Even though the car‘s CO2 emissions
are „relatively“ low compared to
similar cars, absolute emissions
are still high and this give a
misleading impression that this car is
environmentally friendly
Average emissions of all cars in EU in
2012: 132 g CO2/km
Average emissions target for all cars
in the EU in 2020: 95 g CO2/km
www.beuc.eu –
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