ACCAN recently submitted to the Senate Environment and Communications Reference Committee’s Inquiry into greenwashing. Greenwashing is where a business or organisation misleads consumers about their products or services as being in some way environmentally friendly.

ACCAN supports RSPs establishing practices to decrease their environmental impact and sharing those practices with consumers. However, consumers should have confidence that the RSPs they choose for their sustainability claims are substantiating those claims. In response to greenwashing in the telecommunications market ACCAN recommends:

• The ACCC be provided with additional resources to investigate and take enforcement action against businesses engaging in greenwashing or falsifying sustainability claims.
• The government ensures that businesses promoting environmental sustainability through carbon offsets be registered under the Climate Active program.
• The government requires businesses to publicly disclose and regularly update their climate footprint as part of the Climate Active program.
• Businesses must, using plain English terms, more clearly explain to consumers how their sustainability claims and practices will produce a net benefit to the environment.

Download:  Greenwashing Inquiry72.34 KB

Download:  Greenwashing Inquiry230.68 KB