CSSN Special Projects
The Greenwashing Assessment Framework was developed by a team of natural scientists, social scientists, and communication researchers and first published in 2022. It collects every form of greenwashing that we can identify and pairs them with notes, examples, and an indicator question that can be answered either yes or no. If the answer is yes, the claim is greenwashing.
To use the framework, identify a public statement, ad, claim, practice or campaign that you are interested in and then explore the framework’s twelve themes. The claim can be from any organization, even an NGO. Is the statement about what impact the organization has had? Look under Impact. Is the claim about the organization doing what it says it will do? Start with the themes under Alignment. Is the statement using language or images in a way that makes you wonder? Start with Communication.
If you do use the framework, we would really like to hear from you. We collect case studies and applications of the framework via this form, and general comments via email at spinningclimatechangewg@gmail.com. Suggested citation: Nemes, N., Scanlan, S. J., Smith, P., Smith, T., Aronczyk, M., Hill, S., Lewis, S. L., Montgomery, A. W., Tubiello, F. N., & Stabinsky, D. (2022). An Integrated Framework to Assess Greenwashing Sustainability, 14(8), Article 8. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084431.
