The World Jewelry Confederation (CIBJO) Ethics Commission has published its report that focuses on the use of “green” terminology when marketing and advertising jewellery, and the risks and dangers incurred when it is inappropriately applied.
The report belongs to the series timed for 2024 CIBJO Congress in Shanghai in November. CIBJO Commissions have already released 8 area-specific reports so far.
“Greenwashing is particularly detrimental because it undermines consumer trust and misleads individuals into believing that a company is engaging in environmentally responsible practices when it is not,” Ethics Commission head Sara Yood wrote.
“It is a deceptive marketing tactic that can distort competition by giving an unfair advantage to companies that falsely portray their products as sustainable, disadvantaging businesses that genuinely adhere to ethical and eco-friendly practices and carefully review advertising to ensure substantiation.”
According to the researchers, greenwashing not only undermines fair competition in the marketplace, but it also raises a possibility of legal jeopardy for companies committing such acts. Certain government agencies such as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission have started to scrutinizing the misguided “green” claims.
Companies that do not substantiate their environmental claims could be subject to penalties ranging from fines to injunctions that require brands to cease advertising certain claims, the authors of the report claim. CIBJO outlined six general recommendations designed to clarify what type of terminology can be fairly used when making environmental claims in jewellery marketing campaigns, and what is required to ensure the veracity of such claims.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
