The European Union (EU) directives on green claims and empowering consumers for the green transition are part of a series of regulatory steps underway to ensure consumers are better informed about the environmental impacts of the products and services they use.
Baptiste Carriere-Pradal, Co-Founder of 2BPolicy, says companies wanting to showcase their green credentials to consumers in the EU will have to do more than just claim “sustainable” or “green” in their marketing as new legislation cracks down on these vague terms as “greenwashing”.
In a letter to the editor, Niël du Toit, Founder and CEO of Sustainable Tourism Management System, trading as Go Sustainable Tourism, summarised his company’s approach and how it aligns with these principles.
“In an era when sustainability is paramount, the EU is taking significant strides to ensure that companies making green claims provide verifiable, science-backed evidence. This initiative is crucial for holding institutions accountable and ensuring their contributions to greening and sustainability in tourism are genuine and reliable.”
Du Toit’s letter includes the following:
Understanding greenwashing
Greenwashing occurs when a company or destination is presented as sustainable through marketing and advertising misleading customers into believing their practices are environmentally friendly while, in reality, they are harmful. This deceptive practice undermines genuine sustainability efforts and misleads consumers.
Baptiste Carriere-Pradal, Co-Founder of 2BPolicy, has highlighted several critical points regarding greenwashing:
- Prevalence of greenwashing: Half of the sustainability claims by companies and certification schemes amount to greenwashing.
- Avoiding vague claims: Companies must avoid vague overstatements and terms like “sustainable” as these can have different meanings in different contexts.
- Clarity and specificity: Claims should be easy to understand and specific – only making assertions that can be substantiated.
- Science-backed evidence: Claims must be based on reliable, comparable and verifiable information.
- Focus on results: The actual results of sustainability efforts count – not just the intentions behind them.
Here are my views:
GST: measure and manage – What is GST?
GST is a management method designed for entrepreneurs in the tourism industry who are committed to sustainability. Our approach encompasses four key pillars:
- Conservation: Ethical use of local resources to retain natural and cultural biodiversity
- Community: Involvement of locals in management and employment
- Customer: Guidelines for the visitor target market
- Company: Ensuring the profitability of the business
Each pillar includes relevant questions reflecting management objectives, which are annually revised for statistical validity. Entrepreneurs manage their businesses according to these standards and an assessor verifies the management standards using an internationally accepted audit format. Verification audits are conducted every second year.
The value of verification
Verification is a crucial part of our management method. It involves establishing facts in relation to proposed criteria in a questionnaire format, answering the question “How do you know it actually happened?” For example, in a cookie factory, a manager reviews production records to confirm the cookies were baked to the specified temperature. Similarly, in GST, we specify management criteria as a set of questions and the assessor reviews the answers to confirm the actual facts.
Certification
If satisfied, the GST member’s factual standard of management is confirmed through a confidential report to the owner, a public management report and a formal certificate. The GST logo, certificate and public report can be used for marketing, showing genuine commitment to sustainability.
By adhering to these rigorous standards, GST ensures our members’ sustainability claims are credible, verifiable and truly contribute to a greener future.
