Ademe, France’s energy and environment agency, has published an anti-greenwashing guide to help companies avoid misleading business practices in their operations and communications. Companies and institutions have access to an online test for initial self-assessments.
Ademe wants to make companies and institutions aware of greenwashing, a misleading commercial practice that uses deceptive or overly limited environmental commitments to sell or promote products, services or a corporate image.
In July 2023, the agency published an anti-greenwashing guide to help companies understand the term and recognize key steps to avoid it.
“It applies to any message that could mislead the public about the true environmental quality of a product or service or more broadly about the reality of an organization’s sustainable development approach, regardless of its terms and conditions,” Ademe said. “Particular vigilance must be exercised regarding messages posted on social networks. Ethical rules apply to all messages, regardless of how they are distributed.”
The agency published a updated version of the guide this week and has submitted it to a public consultation that closes on April 30. The company has also posted an online test on its website to help companies and institutions conduct initial self-assessments.
“This test does not provide a label and the results obtained are not sanctions, but a means to raise awareness on the issue of greenwashing, with opportunities to improve your practices,” Ademe said.
The legal arsenal in the fight against greenwashing is available in consumer law, environmental law, certain texts specific to the environment, decrees and European regulations.
In France, the Climate and Resilience Act of 2021 regulates greenwashing and provides a legal framework for misleading business practices. These practices include false statements or presentations that may mislead consumers about the essential characteristics of goods or services and the obligations of advertisers, whether through act or omission.
TotalEnergies is currently the target of two investigations into claims of greenwashing – one at the Paris court and the other at the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office.
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