Clifford Chance

On 10 February 2023, the ASA released further guidance on advertising and greenwashing, looking specifically at the terms "carbon neutral" and "net zero".

Background

The ASA had previously conducted consumer research concerning these terms, which indicated that there was little consensus as to their meaning. Many participants believed that "carbon neutral" referred to an absolute reduction in carbon emissions, instead of carbon offsetting, and when the true meaning of these claims was explained, participants felt they had been misled.

New Guidance

The new guidance is intended to help businesses and marketing agencies interpret the CAP and BCAP's rules concerning environmental claims and to reduce the risk of misleading consumers. The key takeaways are:

• the use of unqualified terms such as "carbon neutral", "net zero" or similar should be avoided
• it must be clear whether advertisers are actively reducing carbon emissions, or merely offsetting, so consumers do not wrongly assume that products generate no or few emissions
• statements about targets towards net zero or carbon neutrality must be backed up by a verifiable strategy to achieve those targets
• where claims relate to offsetting, advertisers should comply with the usual standards of evidence for objective claims and mention the offsetting scheme being used
• any qualifying information about a claim must be positioned sufficiently close to the main claim so that consumers can easily see it before making any decision.

What's Next?

The ASA will monitor advertisements for the next 6 months to assess the impact of the new guidance on "carbon neutral" and "net zero" claims. This will include an information gathering exercise to assess how advertisers are substantiating such claims.

If the results of the monitoring exercise suggests that these claims are being made but the accompanying evidence is questionable, the ASA will invite CAP to launch a review into what type of evidence would be deemed acceptable to properly substantiate such claims. This will take into account insights from industry experts, policy developments in the UK and elsewhere, and consultations with interested parties. Hopefully, this will result in the ASA providing specific guidance and clear examples as to what will or will not constitute a substantiated claim.

However, this does not mean that advertisers are "off the hook" for the next 6 months. The ASA will continue to monitor the market for acts of "greenwashing" and take proactive action against any advertisers making unqualified carbon neutral and net zero claims.

Get in touch if you would like assistance in reviewing any "green" claims in your upcoming advertising campaigns for compliance, and subscribe to our quarterly newsletter, The Advertising Brief, where we offer concise summaries of the most interesting cases from the ASA with our key takeaways for all brand owners to be aware of.