Recent action against major fashion brands shows that greenwashing is no longer just a reputational issue, it is becoming an increasing regulatory risk.
Earlier this month, advertisements from several global fashion brands, including Adidas, Calvin Klein and Uniqlo, were withdrawn following concerns that environmental claims made in their marketing could mislead consumers. The rulings reinforce a clear message from regulators: sustainability claims must be clear, specific and backed by robust evidence.
Whilst many businesses are making genuine progress on sustainability, communicating those achievements accurately is becoming increasingly challenging. Broad statements that were once commonplace are now receiving much greater scrutiny, and even well-intentioned marketing can create compliance risks if claims are not carefully worded.
What we're finding through UKFT's Green Claims Reviews
Over the past few months, UKFT has reviewed a growing number of member websites, product pages and sustainability communications through our complimentary Green Claims Review service. One thing has become very clear. It is extremely rare that we review marketing copy without identifying potential greenwashing risks.
Importantly, this does not mean businesses are intentionally misleading consumers. In most cases, the issues relate to wording that is too broad, absolute or lacking sufficient context, rather than the underlying sustainability work itself.
Some of the most common issues we identify include:
- Using broad terms such as sustainable, eco, green or responsible without explaining what they mean.
- Making absolute claims such as fully recyclable, toxic free or carbon neutral without sufficient evidence.
- Overstating the benefits of certifications or supplier sustainability credentials.
- Presenting legal compliance (such as REACH compliance) as an environmental benefit.
- Using comparative claims such as better materials or lower impact without explaining the comparison.
In many cases, only minor wording changes are needed to significantly reduce risk while still communicating genuine sustainability progress.
New Resource: Green Claims Quick Risk Checker
As we've completed more Green Claims Reviews, clear patterns have started to emerge.
To help members avoid some of the most common pitfalls, we've developed a new Green Claims Quick Risk Checker.
This practical reference highlights commonly used claims, explains why they may present a greenwashing risk, assigns a simple risk rating, and suggests alternative ways of communicating sustainability more accurately.
Designed for marketing, product and sustainability teams, it provides a quick sense-check before publishing website content, social media posts, packaging or product descriptions.
Sometimes, a small change in wording can make a significant difference.
Now is the time to review your claims
With increasing regulatory scrutiny and growing consumer expectations around transparency, now is the ideal time to review your sustainability communications.
Whether you're updating your website, launching a new collection or developing ESG messaging, ensuring your claims are accurate, specific and evidence-based can help reduce both regulatory and reputational risk.
Complimentary Green Claims review for UKFT members
As part of UKFT membership, members can access a complimentary Green Claims Review, where we'll review up to three customer-facing webpages or marketing assets against the latest UK green claims guidance.
Our review highlights potential areas of risk and provides practical recommendations to strengthen your communications while reducing the likelihood of greenwashing.
For businesses looking for more comprehensive support, we also offer full website and brand-wide Green Claims Reviews as a consultancy service. These provide an in-depth assessment of sustainability communications across websites, product pages, campaigns and internal guidance, together with detailed recommendations for improvement.
What members have said
“Thank you so much for your report. It was incredibly thorough and genuinely one of the most useful pieces of feedback we have received. Your point about the risk being in how things are communicated rather than what we are doing gave me a very clear direction to work with. I used your report as a framework to review the new site’s claims myself. It made a huge difference having your audit as a reference point and I don’t think I would have known where to start without it.”
“Just wanted to say thanks for your input during Monday’s session — your tips on sustainability claims were really helpful.”
“It’s invaluable to get your input on our website copy and how we can strengthen what we already have and put evidence behind what we’re saying.”
“Thank you so much, this is so interesting and valuable.”
Would you like your Green Claims reviewed?
If you'd like to take advantage of your complimentary member Green Claims Review, or discuss a full brand-wide review, please get in touch with the UKFT Sustainability Team.
