About the guide
Guide Against Greenwashing is not just a guide, but a community
Greenwashing is a form of misleading marketing or communication, where a product, service or company is presented as “better” in respect to climate change, the environment or animal and human rights issues, without proper documentation to support the claim.
Sustainability and social responsibility are complex matters. It is easy to make mistakes when trying to communicate the content of your business' efforts. However, these mistakes can mislead and frustrate consumers, and in turn create apathy towards the most important challenges of our time. This initiative seeks to be a practical guide to avoid greenwashing and thus help to accelerate the shift towards a sustainable economy.
The Guide Against Greenwashing was made in Norway by the organizations Skift - Climate Business Leaders, Zero, Future in our hands and WWF Norway.
The guide defines greenwashing in relation to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. In other words, greenwashing is not limited to environmental issues, but can also involve areas such as gender equality, poverty, hunger, health, education, and labor.
The guide is not a set of laws, but rather a tool to help businesses avoid greenwashing. We encourage all businesses to sign, and do their best to adhere to the principles of the guide.
What does it mean to sign the principles?
Consider the principles
Are these relevant and useful for our business? Identify the greatest potential for improvement.
Sign the poster here. Feel free to communicate that your business wants to follow the principles and feel free to encourage customers and suppliers to do the same.
Implement the principles so that they suit your business. Where do we have the greatest potential for improvement? Set goals and make action plans.
Everyone who signs will be invited to digital gatherings, where the aim is to share experiences with routines to avoid greenwashing, and learn together how the 10 principles can be applied in their own businesses across various industries.