FAQS

The Anti-Greenwash
Charter Explained

The following details responses to some of the key questions conscious consumers have asked about The Anti-Greenwash Charter. If you have a question that isn’t answered below, please feel free to get in touch.

What is greenwashing

Greenwashing refers to the false or misleading presentation of environmental credentials to gain an unfair advantage. It involves creating a perception of environmental performance that does not align with the actual environmental impact of a product, service, or organisation.

What is The Anti-Greenwash Charter

The Anti-Greenwash Charter has been developed in partnership with the ASBP, The Green Register, The Good Homes Alliance, and Timber Development UK, to support organisations in the built environment to adopt and adhere to responsible marketing communications practices and procedures. We are always looking for more like-minded industry bodies to join our campaign, if this is you, please get in touch.

What is an Anti-Greenwash Charter Signatory

An organisation that has signed the Anti-Greenwash Charter, has made a public commitment to uphold the Charter’s standards of transparency, accountability, fairness and honesty in their marketing communications. Furthermore, they have published a Green Claims Policy which details the responsible marketing practices they have adopted, to mitigate against instances of greenwashing. Ongoing they have agreed to allow us to  independently verify the proper implementation of their Green Claims Policy, via an annual review of their campaigns and practices.

What do their green terms actually mean

Greenwashing is not always malicious, sometimes it can simply be a case of poor, inadequate or misleading definitions of terms. As conscious consumer champions, we believe that everyone has the right to clear and unambiguous language used in responsible marketing communications. As such, all Anti-Greenwash Charter signatories are required to compile and maintain a glossary of their green terms, which are publicly available for you to check at any time you like.

Who watches the watcher

Over-zealous claims can – at times – slip through the safety net of corporate governance. With this in mind, each of our signatories has agreed to a clear editorial process, plus a clear escalation procedure for potential complaints – with overall responsibility for claims often held by the C-Suite or at Board level.

What role can employees play

Each organisation has committed to training staff on their Green Claims Policy and the importance of the Charter’s standards, to ensure organisational awareness of the issue. Employees are also encouraged to challenge green claims and often rewarded when they do so.

How is the commitment maintained

Each organisation’s Green Claims Policy is a live, working document that is reviewed at least once every 12 months. Within the document, many organisations also choose to outline future areas of improvement.

What happens if I observe a signatory greenwashing

The team work closely with organisations to ensure their practices and procedures are as robust as possible, however we cannot (and do not) check each individual claim that is made. If you feel that a claim made by one of our signatories could be considered misleading, please contact the signatory themselves in the first instance (noting their published escalation procedure in their Green Claims Policy). Alternatively, you could consider making a complaint directly to the CMA. For the avoidance of doubt, The Anti-Greenwash Charter assumes no liability for any claims made by signatories.

Does the Charter support verification of claims

Verification of your brand’s individual green claims is an important next step to ensure clear and transparent substantiation of claims. We have partnered with a claims verifications specialist ethy to provide this service. 

ethy offers an accessible digital solution, combining independent green claims verification, streamlined UK regulatory compliance, and sustainability communications. The verification process ensures claims align with the Green Claims Code requirements, providing communication tools and meaningful ecolabels for informed consumer choices. 

Claims are verified against ethy’s sustainability standards, developed in partnership with industry leaders, and act as a roadmap for a more sustainable future, showcasing brands’ valuable contributions to the United Nations Global Goals. 

ethy’s verified claims provide transparency and traceability through ecolabels, accessible standards, and links to relevant reports and initiatives via their ethical marketing tools including embeddable website widgets.

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