On Green Claims

Hello You, who stumbled onto my website. I decided to start sharing some of my thoughts here since I have this website for some time now.

Having had a look at the information I provide on my website, you may know that I have worked in European politics for the majority of my career.

This morning, I followed a consideration of amendments in the ENVI and IMCO Committees of the European Parliament on the topic of the substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims (Green Claims Directive) that took place yesterday. I have been following this and other related discussions in the past years for two reasons; professional and personal interests. If you like, from the "commercial" view, but also of that of an (avid) consumer.

I am quite impressed by the ability of the current "mandate" of the EU institutions to have produced quite a number of environmental legislative initiatives. These topics were already present and much debated a few years back. Especially the topic of "greenwashing" seems to interest people. I remember attending a conference in Brussels where this word was used so many times, I have trouble recalling whether the conference was actually solely about that topic.

People don´t like to be lied to. This is what one can take away from the discussions on this. Yes, companies must be able to protect their trade secrets and intellectual property rights but that does not mean that nothing needs to be done and self-assessment is sufficient, basically cementing the business-as-usual approach into EU legislation. I think we can do better.

The fact of the matter is that companies like to make green claims because it (probably) sells. People want to believe you when you say "trust me, this product is better for you than the one next to it".

I think this whole debate fits quite nicely into a bigger frame that is one of double standards. There is so much talk but little action.

If you would like to know more about my thoughts, I suggest you drop me a line.