Environmental writer Martin Cooper asks 'is it time to come clean on 'greenwashing'?

I read an article recently about some of the big companies who make cleaning products. 

It was about how, despite the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) pledges the company made over the years to improve its green credentials and do what is right for the planet, it is now significantly back-tracking on them.

As one of the largest users of plastic packaging in the world, Unilever had promised to halve its use of virgin plastics by 2025 - next year.

However, according to a report by Bloomberg, the company will now aim for a reduction of a third by 2026.

This means their less ambitious target equates to about 100,000 tonnes more fresh, single use plastic every year - a massive backward step for a company previously hailed as a leader in its environmental commitments, not to mention the impact on our planet.

We’re all trying hard to do the right thing, and we trust the sustainability claims these companies make.

But when we buy their products thinking they have the same values and concerns we have, only to find when the going gets tough, they bow out and take an easier path, it's not fair - on us or the planet.

We’ve recently seen companies being forced to remove 'green' claims from their products or take down advertising when they have no evidence to back up what they are suggesting with clever imagery and ambiguous wording.

In 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) co-ordinated a global review of randomly selected websites, discovering 40 per cent of sustainability-related claims made online were confusing, inconsistent or just blatantly misleading.

These led to a 'Green Claims Directive' by the European Commission, setting out rules for companies making green claims, such as needing them to be independently verified and proven with scientific evidence.

If they’re not going to change, then we will have to - by not choosing their products and by making choices we know we can trust.