REPRODUCED - Article by Alex Brownsell, marketingmagazine.co.uk, 30 March 2010

The government is to discourage brands from using terms such as “green”, “environmentally friendly” and “eco” when promoting products.

The recommendations are among changes proposed by Defra to its Green Claims Code, which the department is revising for the first time since 2003.

The draft guidelines, which, if adopted, will inform the CAP and BCAP advertising codes and provide a point of reference for the ASA, encourage the legitimate promotion of sustainable products.

They suggest that advertisers should avoid using “vague and undefined” terms in promotions. This would include describing products and services as “sustainable”.

In the case of a new green technology or environmental issue, Defra suggests brands partner public and private sector bodies to help educate consumers, before launching their own campaign.

The draft code recommends “choice editing” by brands, including promoting greener options with price discounts and loyalty rewards, and reducing the prominence or availability of less environmentally friendly alternatives.

Brands making claims about future performance, as energy company EDF has with its 2020 carbon-reduction campaign, would be subject to annual third-party progress checks. If a company did not meet targets referred to in its marketing, this would be “made clear in the public domain”.

Ads such as Crédit Agricole’s green banking activity may also be affected by the guidelines.

Robert Keitch, head of brand and membership at the Direct Marketing Association, said many brands are yet to realise that advertising around greener products can provide a “competitive advantage”.

However, there remain concerns that the revised guidelines would not achieve their goal of rewarding companies that address the impact of their product on the environment.

Blake Ludwig from environmental pressure group We Are Futureproof,said:”The crux of the whole problem seems to be when we define something as ‘green’.

“Something that is less bad isn’t the same as something that is good. At the moment [the code] doesn’t do enough to pull apart those who are genuinely doing things in an environmentally friendly way from those who are greenwashing.”

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/993420/Defra-proposes-tighter-control-green-claims/

Read the full supplement here.

Green is funky, Green is sexy, Green is wacky!

If you think that climate change and sustainability communications are dull and boring, well think again. Here is a sample of exciting comms that intend to showcase environmentally friendly behaviour as cool and sexy.

“God save The Green”

These three short movies directed by Nadege Winter aim to inform people about energy efficiency by diverting the traditional codes of environmental activism.  Imagine that you run into a peep show. You see a beautiful pin-up naked, but instead of engaging in an erotic conversation, the beautiful woman gives you a lesson of ecology.

Unfortunately you can see these only from France. But here is the teaser that will, I hope, feed your imagination.

“Fuck For Forest”

FFF is a project created by a non-profit environmental organisation founded in Norway.  The two persons behind the concept adopted a refreshing perspective to help addressing deforestation issues. FFF basically produces pornographic films whose profits go directly to reforestation projects. They were officially backed by the Norwegian government and received seed funding to help launch the concept.

You can buy their videos here.

“Green Porno”

Green Porno is a series of short movies written and directed by the ex-model and actress Isabella Rossellini. The quirky little movies combine ecology and pornography. Both comic and instructive they are the result of genuine scientific research and observation. They help viewers understand how gnats, cockroaches and other bees reproduce. An anthem to biodiversity….

You can watch the three episodes on Sundance Channel.

Author Caroline Martinot

Article reproduced, author: Donald Carli*

Most people will tell you that they care about saving our forests, but they tend to be uninformed or misinformed when it comes to knowing the causes of deforestation or some of the places being affected most significantly by land use change that kills trees, pollutes rivers and contributes to climate change. Until recently the conventional wisdom has been to demonize paper and print media as the major culprit behind “killing trees” and to idealize digital media as “green and groovy” alternative without consideration for the full backstory or life cycle footprint of either.

Pixels Don’t Grow on Trees

Paper and print media supply chains are far from being sustainable, but may be far less of a threat to forests than the “Tree-Wash” claims about how digital media saves trees or how pixels are greener than pages. “Tree-Wash” is my term for a special class of “greenwash” making false, misleading or unsupported marketing claims that ignore the causes of deforestation associated with digital media, or that fail to identify the actual trees and forests allegedly being saved or planted.

However, the Copenhagen Climate Summit and technologies developed to verify land use are likely to play a major role in changing the status quo with regard to foot-printing forests, identifying trees and the calculating the climate impacts of coal-powered IT.

Are You Seeing REDD yet?

Deforestation and the sustainable management of the world’s forests are serious issues that should be top of mind given the world’s focus on climate change. Trees sequester carbon equal to half of their dry weight, and scientists estimate that as much 20 percent of total emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) are emitted due to deforestation, land use change and forest degradation. For that reason, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is a major issue that will be addressed in Copenhagen.

Sustainable forestry will play an increasingly important role in supporting the literacy and sanitary existence of the world’s growing population. In addition to providing millions of jobs and providing the wood fiber used to produce over 350 million tons of paper per year, the world’s forests also serve as the planet’s “lungs” by converting or “sequestering” atmospheric carbon dioxide into woody biomass and providing other important environmental services. In addition, sustainably harvested forest biomass will increasingly be employed by a new generation of integrated biorefineries to replace fossil fuel energy and petrochemical feedstocks.

According to some reports just one day’s deforestation is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions of eight million people flying to New York; in order to address such a serious challenge and provide a basis to monitoring the reduction of deforestation and forest degradation, an impressive array of geo-locative and remote sensing capabilities are being developed to map the world’s forests and identify the location of individual trees with startling precision.

For example, as part of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its member countries and partners is undertaking a global remote sensing survey of forests covering the whole land surface of the Earth. FAO is also providing technical support for national forest assessments and the establishment of national forest monitoring systems. See: Global Forest Resources Assessment

Do You See the Forest or the Trees?

Remote sensing of forest biomass and geo-locative tagging of trees will become increasingly important as the exemption of carbon dioxide emissions from bioenergy use will only be appropriate if there is a system that also counts emissions from deforesting land and land use activities that degrade forest ecologies. In that way, if biomass for energy use results in deforestation, emissions are counted as land use emissions equivalent to fossil fuel emissions. However, these new applications will also be making it possible to stem the tsunami of “Go Digital, Save Trees” Tree-Wash marketing claims that many marketers of e-billing, e-books and digital media have been flooding the market with.

One of the little known but significant causes of deforestation in the United States related to digital media is the practice of Mountain Top Removal, employed to mine the coal used to generate electricity in states like West Virginia. In 2008 over 41 million tons of coal were extracted by means of Mountain Top Removal in West Virginia. Coal provides the majority of electric power in 32 states, and 99 percent of the electricity generated in West Virginia comes from coal.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that by 2013 an area the size of Delaware will have been deforested to extract coal. In addition to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the energy consumed by digital media’s IT infrastructure, the deforestation, toxic air pollution and water pollution impacts associated with coal mining, coal combustion and coal waste need to be considered before making claims about digital media being greener than print or saving trees.

Truth in Augmented Reality

Deforestation, illegal logging and land-use changes that result in greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental damage are serious matters that billions of people care about. With today’s advanced remote sensing and geo-location capabilities consumers have every reason to expect marketers making claims about their offerings saving trees, or resulting in the planting of trees, to identify the trees in question and account for the life cycle impacts associated with their products. Even if the FTC does not yet prosecute such cases, that would not preclude a competitor from calling on the National Advertising Review Council to review the truthfulness and accuracy of a green marketing claim.

As we enter the “Post Madoff” trust-but-verify age of social-media powered transparency and climate awareness, it is becoming more possible and important than ever to monitor the green message content and supply chain impacts of advertising. Pixels may not grow on trees, but it is increasingly likely that remote sensing and augmented reality pixels can and will be used to hold marketers responsible for the carbon footprint of their media supply chains and the truthfulness and accuracy of advertising claims they make about saving or planting trees.

*Author: Donald Carli
Senior Research Fellow
Institute for Sustainable Communication
http://www.sustaincom.org

Global Climate Week 21^st – 25^th September 2009

As part of the Seal the Deal! Campaign, UNEP are leading the Global Climate Week, which is planned to coincide with the United Nations Secretary-General’s High Level Summit on Climate Change on 22^nd September 2009.

This important week and the lead-up weekend will be marked by synchronized activities in more than 100 cities to urge world leaders to seal a fair and effective climate agreement at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen this December.

Global Climate Week will unite efforts, whether individual or collective, calling for urgent action to combat climate change – the greatest challenge of our time.

Cities, organizations, groups and individuals are invited to mobilize their networks and join the effort.

The United Nations is also encouraging communities, businesses and individuals to add their voices to the “Seal the Deal!” campaign during Global Climate Week by signing the online Climate Petition, which will be presented to the governments of the world in Copenhagen, she said. The petition is available at http://www.sealthedeal2009.org/the-climate-petition

According to a statement by UN spokesperson, Michele Montas, “the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon is calling on communities around the world to take advantage of the week to encourage leaders to seal a fair, balanced and effective agreement on climate change.”

Montas stated that events have been planned in more than 120 countries “for this first Global Climate Week, which coincides with the UN Summit on Climate Change convened by the Secretary-General in New York, on 22 September.”

Be part of Global Climate Week

Enter your Global Climate Week pledge at www.sealthedeal2009.org.Afterwards, share your activities with the world by uploading a report, including video and photos.

The Lead-up Weekend

Day 1 - Saturday 19th
Global Tree Planting Drive

Mass tree planting activities may actually help save the planet! Beginning on 19 September, each tree pledged or planted during Global Climate Week will carry the Seal the Deal! message – a direct call for political action on climate change. Let us know how many trees you are pledging to plant and where. The planting can be part of your Clean up the World activity.
Make sure tree-planters sign the Climate Petition at: www.sealthedeal2009.org. The tree-planting drive is carried out in cooperation with the UN Billion Tree Campaign.

Day 2 - Sunday, 20th
Climate Petition Day

Organize public events or online activities to encourage as many people as possible in every corner of the world to sign the Climate Petition. We need millions to show their support in favour of a definitive agreement on climate change by signing the Climate Petition, which calls on leaders to sign a definitive and equitable agreement on climate change this December.

Global Climate Week

Day 3 - Monday 21st
Climate Change Assembly Day

Young people around the world will hold peaceful assemblies in support of definitive global action on climate change, under the banner “Seal the Deal!” The Climate Petition will be made available online in a print-friendly format to allow campaigners to hand over a meaningful statement to their national and local authorities, urging governments to reach an agreement in Copenhagen.

Day 4 - Tuesday 22nd
Seal the Deal! Green Day

Wear SOMETHING GREEN to show support and solidarity for sealing the deal in Copenhagen on the day the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, hosts world leaders at a UN High Level Event on Climate Change in New York. Leaders will come face-to-face with the latest support for the Climate Petition.

You can also:

• Arrange for a Seal the Deal! Support Day at work or school
• Add a message to the Climate Wall Twitter, blog, or write an Editorial or a letter to your editor
• Download the Seal the Deal! Screen Saver
• Get creative and do your own thing to show support for urgent action to combat climate change!

Day 5 - Wednesday 23rd
Go Climate Neutral Day

Power down! Go climate neutral for the day in a personal show of support for a definitive agreement on climate change.

Countries, cities, businesses and organizations:

• Pledge innovative action to lessen your carbon footprint.
• Join the UN Climate Neutral Network www.unep.org/climateneutral

Communities and individuals:

• Ride your bike, car pool or take public transport
• Enjoy a candlelit dinner while you turn off the lights
• Find ways to offset your carbon footprint.
• Make a pledge and upload your action, photos, video, songs and comments at www.sealthedeal2009.org

Day 6 - Thursday 24th
Climate Voices Day

Join the global chorus calling on world leaders to act now to protect people and the planet, and to power green growth. Have your voice heard on climate change and acknowledge the heroes and victims of climate change, as well as the individuals and groups who are taking positive action to combat climate change in their communities.

Nominate your local climate champ at www.sealthedeal2009.org

Record your testimonial of how climate change is affecting you at the Climate Wall

Day 7 - Friday 25th
Climate Solutions Day

The latest science shows our climate is changing more rapidly than expected. But it is not too late to change our habits and implement solutions so that humans stop harming the climate. From low energy bulbs to fuel-cell cars, solutions for a low carbon future are evolving every day.

Showcase your green technology innovation and share it with the world at www.sealthedeal2009.org

ACT - Advertising Community Together is a non-profit association that showcases ads on social, environmental and sustainable development accessible on its website. They also produce a worldwide touring exhibition shown at public and professional events, conferences and debates within the communication industry. Its goal is to promote and inspire responsible communication on sustainability, equitable development and social responsibility. ACT shows how advertising professionals from all continents can use their core talent - creativity - to play a significant role in addressing today’s crucial world issues.

They are preparing a new exhibition that will be premiered in Cannes 20-26 June 2009 before starting its annual world tour. It illustrates the main issues of Sustainable Development from the environmental to the social and demonstrates the power of “creativity” on today’s crucial issues.

They are gathering worldwide ads about sustainable development themes :

- Environnemental Ads: Visual communication examples regarding environmental areas, such as Water Preservation, Climate Change, Biodiversity and natural areas Protection, Desertification, Renewable Energies…
- Social Ads: Visual illustrations on subjects such as Solidarity, Human Rights, Childhood Protection, Poverty, Education, Sanitation, Racism…and also Alcohol Abuse, Drug Addiction, Personal Health, Road Safety, Obesity Prevention, Organ Donation,..

Why become part of the ACT Exhibition?

- After 7 years, ACT is now well known by the Advertising Community as a key player in Communication and Sustainable Development topics.
- Be part of a great Worldtour of Exhibitions including Cannes 2009. Since Cannes 2008, The Expo has been seen in over 10 locations around the world including the NY Advertising Week, EACA Euro Effies, Golden Drum, IAA and more.

See www.act-responsible.org

Companies will face tougher tests when advertising their green credentials, under proposals released recently.

The Committee of Advertising Practice, the industry’s self-regulator, proposes to expand the environmental and social responsibility sections of the broadcast advertising code, to “prevent marketers from exaggerating the environmental benefits of their products”.

The clampdown on greenwashing is part of a wider consultation into the first major changes to the advertising code in eight years.

CAP’s proposed new rules require green advertising on television to be based on the full life cycle of the advertised product or service. It also will use general principles rather than specific rules, which it says could quickly become outdated.

“Absolute claims must be supported by a high level of substantiation,” the proposed rules say, although comparative terms such as “greener” may be allowed in some circumstances.

“It provides a catchall for the unintended and the unexpected,” said Andrew Brown, chairman of CAP and BCAP, the broadcast committee.

Complaints about greenwashing have risen sharply, reflecting the increased popularity of environmental claims in advertisements. In 2006, the Advertising Standards Authority received approximately 117 complaints about 83 advertisements, rising to 561 complaints about 410 advertisements in 2007.

Environmental claims have become a “new form of competitive language for advertisers”, requiring tighter rules that provide “less excuse through ignorance and obfuscation”, said Mr Brown.

David Norman, director of campaigns at WWF UK, whose complaint against an advertisement by Royal Dutch Shell last year was upheld by the ASA, gave the change in rules a cautious welcome.

“WWF would say certainly it sounds like a good move to strengthen regulations so that those companies who do have genuine investments in green technology and answers to climate change are rewarded for that, rather than the companies who invest in marketing.”

Mr Brown said that in general, the review of advertising rules – the first to revise broadcast and general advertising codes simultaneously in their 50-year history – was designed to help broadcasters and advertisers adapt to an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

The new rules are expected to come into force next year.

It’s great to see innovation that has the potential to make a real difference. We’re starting to see a plethora of new green gadgets but often the simplest ideas are the best.

Aiming to make things a fraction easier for homeless people in Canada—who face winter temperatures of as low as -30 degrees Celsius—Canadian ad agency TAXI developed the 15 Below Jacket, a garment that owes its insulating properties to old newspapers. Distributed to the homeless by the Salvation Army, the jacket’s durable, waterproof and wind-resistant case has internal pockets in the sleeves, body and hood for its owner to fill with newspaper. Readily available from recycling bins, bunched-up newspaper is an excellent insulating material.

The garment was named ‘15 Below’ to reference the Celsius mark at which a cold warning is issued, urging the homeless to get off the streets. It’s also a nod to the design competiton that produced it, which celebrates TAXI’s 15th birthday. Creative director Steve Mykolyn came up with the concept, winning the privilege of testing his prototype in a meat locker. Supervised by a paramedic, the design helped him survive eight hours in -28 degree conditions, after which 3,000 jackets went into production (in December 2007).

When stuffed, the jacket—created by Canadian designer Lida Baday—looks like a garment anybody could wear, avoiding stigmatization of its wearers. In the summer months it can be emptied and used as a raincoat, folded up into a backpack to be transported, or filled and used as a pillow. An altruistic project that rubs off very well on all involved, sponsors are currently being sought to fund distribution in other countries.