The Advertising Board’s Approach to Greenwashing and Unsubstantiated Environmental Claims

On 06.02.2025, the Advertising Board (Board) 2024 Annual Report (Report) was published. The Report discusses the Board’s approach and activities regarding advertisements containing deceptive or unsubstantiated environmental claims in a separate section. In this context, the significant issues highlighted in the Report regarding the use of environmental claims in advertisements are summarized below:

• Under the section of the Report titled “Green Washing and Unsubstantiated Environmental Claims”, the importance of protecting consumers against commercial advertisements and practices that target their environmental sensitivities is emphasized. Moreover, it is stated that with the increasing effects of climate change and global warming, more emphasis is placed on the environmental impacts of products in advertisements. In this context, deceptive environmental claims were prominent on the Advertising Board’s agenda in 2024.
• Furthermore, the Report provides several examples of advertisements containing environmental claims that were addressed by the Board in 2024. In this context, the Board imposed administrative sanctions on advertisers for the use of general and ambiguous expressions such as “green”, “eco” and “sustainable” as well as claims regarding future targeted environmental impacts, product content, carbon emissions, energy conversion and low water consumption and certificate use in advertisements without verification, support or proof.
• Moreover, under the section titled “Activities Conducted in 2024”, it is emphasized that the Board signed the Joint Open Letter to the Fashion Retail Sector on the Use of Environmental Claims (Letter) prepared by the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) to encourage actors in the fashion retail sector to bring their environmental claims into compliance with consumer protection laws.
• The Letter states that the textile industry has a serious responsibility regarding global greenhouse gas emissions. Accordingly, advertisers are advised to avoid vague and general environmental claims, not exaggerate the environmental qualities of products, not to misuse third-party certifications, to avoid claims based on non-product-specific data, and not to market to consumers future goals that are not based on concrete or realistic plans.

In light of all these issues discussed in the Report, it is foreseen that the Board’s work on greenwashing and unsubstantiated environmental claims will continue to increase. Therefore advertisers should increase their awareness and sensitivity to the issue.