An ELI Member Seminar
The number of companies employing green marketing has grown significantly since the 1990s, advertising their products as environmentally safe or eco-friendly to attract the consumers concerned with sustainability. According to Ecolabel Index, there are currently 203 ecolabels certifying products in the U.S. Environmental marketing influences consumers’ purchasing decisions yet there are obstacles in verifying whether claims are truthful, accurate, and not misleading. Though the Federal Trade Commission updated its Green Guides in 2012 to clarify expectations regarding marketing claims for consumer goods, ambiguities in green marketing remain, presenting a myriad of issues relating to the environment and ethical consumerism. This panel explored topics including unsubstantiated claims and consumer protection laws, voluntary standards, challenges of procuring reliable scientific evidence and self-regulation, implications of misleading marketing tactics for consumers, the regulation of negligible environmental benefits, and “green washing.”
Our expert panelists explored the spectrum of regulatory power, binding laws, voluntary standards, and current developments surrounding the regulation of green marketing.
Panelists:
Cassie Phillips, Director, Private Environmental Governance Initiative, Environmental Law Institute, Moderator
Anuradha Gokhale, Staff Attorney, National Advertising Division, Council of Better Business Bureaus
Randal M. Shaheen, Partner, Venable LLP
Jennifer Tucker, Associate Deputy Administrator, National Organic Program, USDA
Materials:
ELI members will have access to a recording of this session (usually posted w/in 48 hours). If you are not an ELI member but would like to have access to archived sessions like this one, go HERE to see the many benefits of membership and how to join.