CCPA’s Crackdown On Greenwashing

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has released new Guidelines for the Prevention and Regulation of Greenwashing and Misleading Environmental Claims, 2024.
These guidelines aim to protect consumers from deceptive marketing that falsely claims environmental sustainability.

What is Greenwashing?

Greenwashing is the deceptive practice where a company, product, or service is falsely marketed as environmentally friendly.
It misleads consumers into believing that they are making sustainable choices when, in reality, the environmental benefits are exaggerated or entirely unsubstantiated.
It involves practices like:
Hiding or omitting harmful environmental impacts.
Making vague, exaggerated, or unsupported claims about eco-friendliness.
Highlighting minor green initiatives to distract from overall negative environmental effects.

The guidelines apply to all entities involved in advertising, selling, or endorsing products or services with environmental claims—including manufacturers, advertisers, and influencers.

All green claims must be backed by verifiable, accessible, and credible evidence.
Use of third-party certification and independent studies is encouraged.

Environmental claims should be clearly specified—whether they refer to the entire product, packaging, or manufacturing process.
Data must not be selectively presented to create a false impression.
Tech-enabled disclosures (e.g., QR codes, links) are permitted for easy consumer access.

Such claims are allowed only if there is a clear, actionable roadmap for implementation.

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has introduced eco-labelling standards under IS/ISO 14024:1999 to promote reliable environmental claims on products and services.
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) runs the Green Rating Project (GRP), which assesses and rates industrial units based on their environmental performance.
The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has developed a recognized rating system for green buildings, encouraging sustainable construction practices.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) mandates the top 1000 listed companies to disclose their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance through the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR).
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) enforces strict guidelines to ensure that environmental claims in advertisements are specific, accurate, and not misleading.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) participated in the Greenwashing TechSprint, organized by the Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN), aimed at developing regulatory tools to combat greenwashing in financial services.

Greenhushing: This involves hiding or underreporting a company’s sustainable practices or credentials to avoid scrutiny or public accountability.
Greenrinsing: Companies frequently change or revise their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) targets before achieving them, creating a false impression of progress.
Greenlabeling: Refers to the use of misleading eco-labels or symbols on products that are not genuinely sustainable or environmentally friendly.
Greenlighting: A tactic where businesses promote a minor eco-friendly feature of their product or operations to distract from the major environmental harms they are causing.
Greenshifting: Companies shift the responsibility for climate change or environmental harm onto consumers, implying that individuals are primarily to blame.
Greencrowding: Occurs when companies hide behind group membership (such as environmental alliances) with weak sustainability commitments, slowing down real environmental action.