3 July, 2026

Greenwashing has become a term that most of us recognise today. It was first coined in the 1980s, but the real shift came in the 2000s when brands began seeing sustainability as a strong marketing lever – rightly in our eyes. The problem was that some companies began misusing this lever and making bold environmental claims, often without clear evidence to support them. That pattern still shows today as more than half of green claims in the EU are found to be vague, misleading or unfounded.

Things have changed in recent years – regulation has tightened and consumer scrutiny has grown, but the problem is far from solved. Just last month, ads from Adidas, Uniqlo and Calvin Klein were banned in the UK for misleading recycling claims. Regulators found that the language used could give people the impression that products were fully recycled, even when that was not the case.

Another upshot of this is as that as consumer mistrust and expectations have risen, and regulation has become tighter, some brands have been stepping away from communicating about sustainability. This is termed greenhushing. Businesses may still be making progress, but they avoid talking about it because it feels safer. Our view is that this isn’t the answer either, as when progress is not visible, it can start to look like there is no progress at all. And using consumer communications to build desirability through sustainability impact is an important part of creating momentum for change.

The GreenShouting Guide, launched this year may be part of the answer. Created by B Lab and Creatives for Climate, it is designed to help close this gap by giving communication leaders a practical framework to talk about sustainability with more clarity and confidence. It prompts users to think more carefully about the different aspects of their messaging with an easy-to-use step-by-step process and a set of ‘seven dials’ to fine-tune it to share their sustainability story loudly and clearly.

The message is not to stop talking about sustainability but to do it better.

 

 

By Tulika Agarwal