Greenwashing: The Enemy of Sustainable Business Goals

Greenwashing practices in business destroy the reputation and it is important to know the ways to avoid it.

FREMONT, CA : A thoughtful leader should always think about how greenwashing practices can be avoided. But marketing and business leaders today are more tempted to follow greenwashing. It is a method to capitalise on the current preference changes of the consumers without changing the operational practices of the business. The natural selection of principles of the market can differentiate the companies that are making real efforts to meet the changing customer demands and those deceiving them with the pretence of green marketing.

The business leaders need to justify their initiatives taken towards climate-related issues and efforts to decarbonise the world. Also, they should be transparent about the sustainability goals their business has adopted and actions are taken. People are no longer ready to tolerate the false claims or credits they justify. These claims lead to several repercussions such as reputation damage, financial loss, loss of consumer trust and confidence, and dealing with activists and regulators. To avoid this and gain consumer trust about matters of the future, companies need to provide concrete evidence for the claims of sustainability.

Studies have revealed that many companies are making vague pledges to please stakeholders and increase PR for the organisation. The stakeholders have now become more vigilant in recognising this greenwashing by the businesses and are ready to punish them. Investors tarnish such companies' reputations and boycott the products and services they offer. Also with the popularity of social media and online campaigns greenwashing could be fatal for organisations as the individuals supporting sustainability are dominating the digital platforms.

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The fight against climate change is a self-motivated, long-term process. However, the majority of businesses are waiting to be pressured by their stakeholders or activists to take the necessary actions. Companies remain passive as there are no rules governing the release of regular reports about their initiatives. Instead of following the trail, the companies need to be proactive by taking the lead in doing the right thing which would also shape the image of the company.

Unfortunately, businesses are focused on making short-term profits completely avoiding the impact of climatic changes on economic wealth.  The leaders should be part of the remedy rather than just claiming they realise the impacts of the crisis. They should realise that the greenwashing attempts also affect their profits, not just the net-zero global goals. When they understand this, every business will find the inspiration to take the correct actions toward a sustainable business strategy.