The ASA conveyed a sense of urgency, as it believes influencing consumer behaviour will be an important part of meeting UK net zero targets.
By Paul A. Davies, Sophie J. Lamb KC, Michael D. Green, and Aleksandra Dulska
On 23 June 2023, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) published an update to its advertising guidance on misleading environmental claims and social responsibility (the Advertising Guidance) and stated its intention to continue to take a firm, but proportionate, approach against greenwashing claims. This latest update to the Advertising Guidance aims to identify factors that make environmental claims in ads more likely or less likely to comply with the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising (CAP) and UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP).
This blog post provides context for the latest update and summarises the new section of the Advertising Guidance that draws on principles established by recent ASA rulings as well as principles found in the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA’s) Green Claims Code.
As expected, 2021 saw continued emphasis on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues on a global scale, by governments, regulators, NGOs, the private sector, and other important stakeholders. Indeed, 2021 has been variously described as “a watershed moment for ESG” and “the year of ESG investing”