Greenwashing Assessment Tool

How do you know if a statement is greenwashing? By researching and asking the right questions.

Greenwashing is when a firm misleads the public about the environmental impact of its products or operations.

The Integrated Framework to Assess Greenwashing (IFTAG) was developed by a team of natural scientists, social scientists, and communication researchers. 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.