Companies are increasingly using ‘green claims’ – or communicating on the environmental attributes of their products, services or organisation.   Green claims or labels play an important role in educating and helping consumers make informed decisions about the products or services they purchase, and are also essential in driving businesses to develop products that have a reduced negative impact.

Unfortunately, green claims made by companies aiming to label their environmental credentials are sometimes false or misleading and have the potential to undermine consumer confidence in green marketing or lead to unfair competition between businesses who dishonestly assert to be environmentally conscious.

It is in this context that Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) published an updated Green Claims Guidance earlier this month.  The revised guide advises companies to use clear language when communicating on the environmental impact of their products or services, and encourages the following three steps to be followed:

•    ensure the content of the claim is relevant and reflects a genuine benefit to the environment;

•    present the claim clearly and accurately; and

•    ensure the claim can be substantiated

According to many, making environmental claims is not any different from making any other kinds of claims.  However, the language and terminology used in green claims is still relatively new to people and many terms lack an ‘official’ definition. Among others, Maureen Nowak, the policy advisor in the Green Economy Programme at Defra, holds that it is important to be clear and accurate when communicating environmental credentials because it is key in guaranteeing that claims are reliable and are not misleading consumers.

Defra’s guide goes beyond advertising, covering all forms of communication from marketing, to mission statements, symbols and images.  It aims to facilitate businesses in making clear, accurate, relevant and substantiated environmental claims on products, services or in marketing and advertising and help restore public faith in those claims.

Some would argue that consumers are increasingly choosing to buy products that are more sustainable, providing an opportunity for companies to increase marketing efforts in this domain.  If this is the case, misrepresentation and incorrect claims are essentially taking advantage of consumer’s belief in such claims and ‘green’ products in general.  In fact, a research carried out by Consumer Focus revealed that people find it difficult to determine products that are better for the environment and many think companies use ‘green’ as an excuse to charge higher prices.  Also, two-thirds of the respondents express doubts regarding the truth in ‘green’ product claims.    This has important implications for the green market because consumers’ lack of confidence in green claims will ultimately make them disinclined to exercise their green purchasing power.

The launch of this amended guide has stirred a lot of discussion on the contribution it will make in turning sustainability communication more credible and opinions on this subject are mixed.   For instance, Rowland Hill, Corporate sustainability manager for Marks & Spencer, stated: “we welcome the new Green Claims Guidance, which will help companies to market products and services that are more sustainable.”  Ramon Arratia, Sustainability Director EMEAI of InterfaceFLOR, described the guide as “very well crafted, structured and addressing the most common mistakes in green claims.”  On the other hand, Melissa Sterry, Green Awards 2010 Judge and Founding Director of Societas and New Frontiers, sums it up as being a “plain speaking layman’s guide to sustainability communications.”  She opines that the guide is limited in its approach as it tells people how to comply or ‘tick boxes’ rather than craft effective environmental messages. With this scope, she views the guide to be a useful tool for SMEs, rather than larger enterprises.

The guide can therefore be seen as an initial first step, but not a sufficient one to promote the trust and clarity in environmental claims the public is after.

By Jessica Wettstein

When looking for best examples of communications about Biodiversity, I came across this visual created by Julia Diel, a student of The Offenbach Academy of Art and Design (Germany). I think this striking image summarises well the risk we are facing with regards of biodiversity losses!

This visual was created in 2007 for a German campaign Schuetzt biologische vielfalt ( Protect biological diversity ) no longer available online….

“Biodiversity is considered a prerequisite for a functioning ecosystem, and human beings are only capable of surviving in such an ecosystem. The widespread extinction of species is thus a threat to our own existence. In general, however, people have yet to realize this. This campaign is designed to change that. In order to speak especially to people with little interest in environmental protection, the threat is discussed in terms of society. Politics, sports, music, and entertainment all work—just as nature does—only thanks to the uniqueness and the diversity of their protagonists and the interplay between them. When these groups are stripped of their diversity, this demonstrates the fatal consequences such one-sidedness can have and how important it should be for the future to protect biodiversity.”

Source: http://www.hfg-offenbach.de/w3.php?nodeId=3927&pVId=99392232

Caroline Martinot

The United Nations describes the current state of “our” water resources as a “water bankruptcy”. This water crisis has several causes and consequences:

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The Green Awards is looking for the best examples of ‘Green marketing‘, ‘Ethical advertising‘ and ‘Sustainability communications‘ from the  past 12 months. This could be for any communication, project, campaign or website etc.

To mark its fifth birthday, the Green Awards is going global. For the first time, all 17 categories will be open to entrants from all over the world.

The categories for the 2010 Global Green Awards are:

* Best Green Educational Project (Promoting Sustainable Development Issues) - NEW
* Best Fair Trade Campaign Award (Any Media) - NEW
* Best Green New Product Innovation - NEW
* Best Social Marketing Campaign Award - NEW
* Best Green Third/ Charity Sector Campaign Award
* Best Green Financial Product Award - NEW
* Best Green Advertising Award (Print & Outdoor)
* Best CSR Report Award
* Best Green Direct Response Award (Direct Mail /Drtv / Dr Radio Etc)
* Best Green Event Award (Shows / Exhibitions)
* Best Green Internal Communications Award
* Best Green Mixed Media Award (Integrated)
* Best Green Moving Image Award (Audio-Visual / Tv Spot / Short Film / Animation)
* Best Green Packaging Award
* Best Green PR Campaign Award
* Best Green Public Sector Communication Award
* Best Green Use Of Online Media Award (Banners / Social Media Campaigns / Websites)
* Green Awards Grand Prix (Awarded by the Judges)

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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

GREEN is delighted an article about their 2009 Green Awards is featured in the “National Geographic Green” first issue.

National Geographic names the Green Awards as the “Green Oscars” and writes : “Proving your business is worth its weight in green initiatives has become increasingly important, not least since the creation of The Green Awards.”

National Geographic Green magazine is a quarterly magazine supplement “dedicated to exploring the broad er environmental debate and offering information about consumer products and choices” .The free 120-page publication ‘GREEN’ is being distributed to 250,000 subscribers with the December issue of National Geographic magazine. The first issue entitled “How green is London”, explores the capital’s ecological credentials.

You can read the full issue and the Green Awards article at http://www.greennatgeo.co.uk

Credits: National Geographic winter 09-10

Author: Caroline Martinot

2010 has been declared the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) by the United Nations. It was officially launched on January 10th in Berlin by Angela Merkel and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The global campaign is being run by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which was created after the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

The campaign is an opportunity to promote the understanding of ecosystems and to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity, the variety of life around the planet and how human activity is endangering it. And ultimately to slow if not to stop the extinction of many species.

“You are biodiversity. Most of the oxygen you breathe comes from plankton in the oceans of the world and lush forests around the globe. The fruit and vegetables you eat were likely pollinated by bees, and the water you drink is part of a huge global cycle involving you, clouds, rainfall, glaciers, rivers and oceans.”IYB Message (excerpt)

The campaign aims to impact both the world’s decision makers and citizens.

Indeed, 2010 will be punctuated by a series of official events.  On January 21st and 22nd in Paris, the UNESCO hold an inaugural event to present what we know about biodiversity and raise awareness of the alarming rate of biodiversity loss among world leaders.  During this meeting Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the CBD highlighted that  member states “failed to fulfil the target to reduce the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010” and warned that biodiversity was being lost at an “unprecedented rate”; stressing thereby the urgency of drastic actions. But as a good communicator and as recommended by the UN Campaign Guidelines, Ahmed Djoghlaf also instilled optimism and excitement to his audience by reminding them of the regional successes.  “We need to identify these important successes and build upon them as we prepare the next strategic plan of the CBD.”

Current trends make it hard to share his optimism.  Indeed, in 2010, approximately 34,000 plant and 5,200 animal species face extinction (the current global species extinction rate is estimated to be 50 to 1 000 times higher than the natural background extinction rate). Forests are home to much of the known terrestrial biodiversity, however, forest biodiversity is increasingly threatened as a result of deforestation, and about 45 per cent of the Earth’s original forests are gone, mostly during the 20th century. Climate change is also progressively becoming a more significant driver of biodiversity loss.

Anyway, in the UK the IYB is supported by the campaign “Biodiversity is life”. It showcases simple things you can do every day to preserve biodiversity: i.e. “eat organic”, “seek out a rare British food crop or animal, like Scottish Beremeal and support biodiversity by eating it”, “don’t mow your lawn”. There will be also a plethora of events run all over the country for the public. From the dodgy exhibition The Occurrence of Malformation in Amphibians (London 5- 31 March) to the hippie Bristol Festival of Nature (12–13 June).

The UN campaign for biodiversity preservation is well done. The UN have led to a multitude of national and local campaigns. By adopting some clear communication guidelines the UN incites the national actors to apply some basic communications tricks to foster awareness and behaviour change such as targeting audiences, being inspiring and translating the messages into practical actions. It’s tricky to assess the success of such planetary campaigns. The UN seems to be good at mobilising political and it’s a good thing that they delegate the task of communicating to citizen, to local actors. But who remember that 2009 was the International Year of Natural Fibres?

“It is hard to imagine a more important priority than protecting the ecosystem services underpinned by biodiversity. Biodiversity is fundamental to humans having food, fuel, clean water and a habitable climate.” Professor Georgina Mace