With the passing of the Green Claims Directive, the EU now picks up the gauntlet against corporate greenwashing. By laying down stringent rules for how companies may deploy claims about their sustainability, the intention is to eliminate the practices of greenwashing that for so long have been misleading consumers into making unsustainable choices.<\/p>\n
While legislation may be a blunt instrument of change, the new directive carries the potential to level the playing field for all companies wishing to use sustainability to market themselves and their products on the European market. By creating accountability, it also helps combat the growing distrust for sustainability communication in making \u2018green\u2019 claims into a reliable instrument by which consumers may more easily navigate busy stores.<\/p>\n
The impetus to substantiate claims is, however, nothing new in itself, but rather a reminder of what lies at the core of trust-building communication. Strategic communication should always be about highlighting \u2013 and backing-up \u2013 the value of something. Consequently, the Green Claims Directive should not be seen as a muzzle on sustainability communication<\/a>, which ultimately risks intimidating honest companies into ‘greenhushing.’ Instead, it is about addressing the behaviour of less scrupulous actors, who by capitalising on the vagueness within the area have \u2013 perhaps inadvertently \u2013 made it difficult for conscientious companies to share and benefit from their sustainability efforts.<\/p>\n