GET RID OF GREENWASH – a FLAGSHIP CAMPAIGN? General Assembly Brussels, November 14, 2013

1. GET RID OF GREENWASH – a FLAGSHIP CAMPAIGN? General Assembly Brussels, November 14, 2013

2. 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 misleading green claims in Europe

3. Low trust among consumers of environmental claims • Eurobarometer 367 (July 2013): • 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

4. 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 a 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Example 4 (toilet cleaners): Tesco naturally (UK) – test by which? • As a result of which? investigation, Tesco is removing claim „no phosphates“

8. 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 use this slogan in the future

9. 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 specific provisions on misleading environmental claims: • 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)

10. Objectives of campaign: Consumers are not being ripped-off 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

11. 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)

12. 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 possibilities for consumers to get redress in those cases • Help develop communication material • Do media work at national level • Participate in awareness building strategy and activities how to recognize misleading green claims

13. Annex

14. 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'.

15. 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

16. 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

17. Thank you www.beuc.eu – environment@beuc.eu