A study of greenwashing practices in Europe
In a world of growing environmental awareness, companies increasingly use green claims to attract consumers who care about sustainability and the environment. Those claims are not always credible, which can amount to greenwashing: a practice that misleads consumers by presenting products and activities as environmentally sound without any real basis or evidence. Greenwashing not only damages consumer trust, it is a serious obstacle to genuine environmental progress.
The study “Greenwashing Index – A comparative analysis of greenwashing practices in Portugal, Italy, Germany and Croatia” was carried out within the project GreenGuard – Mobilizing Digital Solutions for Genuine Environmental Progress, funded through Erasmus+ cooperation partnerships in the field of youth. The project is coordinated by Contextos – Cooperativa para o Desenvolvimento e Coesão Social from Portugal, with partners Istituto ad ordinamento universitario Scuola Superiore Carolina Albasio from Italy, Youth Power Germany EV from Germany and Pannonia Consulting from Croatia.
The study sets out to give a detailed overview and comparison of greenwashing practices in those countries, and to raise public awareness of how such practices can be recognised and avoided. The publication analyses specific cases from each partner country, examining key indicators of greenwashing such as the clarity of environmental claims, the presence of independent certification, the match between marketing claims and business practice, transparency, consistency, and whether the whole life cycle of a product or service is taken into account.
The study also includes the results of surveys conducted among young people in all four countries, which give valuable insight into how young people perceive greenwashing and what they think about it. The publication closes with guidance and recommendations for preventing greenwashing and promoting credible sustainable practice.
We hope the study will be a useful tool for young people, civil society organisations, educational institutions, policy makers and the wider public in recognising and countering greenwashing, encouraging more responsible corporate behaviour and contributing to authentic progress towards a sustainable society.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.