Fashion retailers, textile sector cautioned over likely greenwashing
A joint open letter by members of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), a worldwide network of more than 70 consumer protection authorities, recently called on the fashion retail sector and textile industry to review their commercial practices to ensure their environmental claims comply with consumer law.
The letter urges retailers to avoid using vague and general claims like describing items of clothing as 'conscious', 'green' or 'sustainable'.
The International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network has called on the fashion retail sector and textile industry to review their practices to ensure their environmental claims comply with consumer law. It urges retailers to avoid using vague claims like terming apparel as conscious, green or sustainable, and warns against overstating the significance of their environmental measures.
As concerns over potential greenwashing in advertising campaigns across the fashion industry grow, the fashion retail sector, which, as the letter indicates, is currently responsible for an estimated 8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and 20 per cent of global wastewater, has attracted particular attention.
The letter cautions traders against overstating the significance of their environmental measures and asks them to ensure that any improvements made are marketed in a 'proportionate' way and not given 'undue emphasis in' marketing.
The letter also calls on retailers to avoid making claims based on data that is not sufficiently specific to the product, such as claiming that an item of clothing automatically has a lower environmental impact because it is made of organic cotton instead of conventional cotton.
ICPEN cautioned against using self-made labelling schemes and misuse of third-party certifications, adding that labels 'should give an accurate impression of the environmental performance of the product.'
Retailers should also be specific when using sustainability filters in online stores and should focus their marketing on specific measures already being taken, rather than making unsubstantiated claims about future aspirations.
Ireland's Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC); the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission; and the Spanish Directorate General for Consumer Affairs, were among the 20 global organisations that endorsed the letter.
In a statement accompanying the letter on ICPEN's website, the organisation said that it 'does not necessarily indicate that any individual ICPEN member will prioritise enforcement action on misleading environmental claims, and some member jurisdictions may have stricter or more specific rules in place.'
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