Combatting Greenwashing

India has introduced the 2024 Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Greenwashing and Misleading Environmental Claims to protect consumers from deceptive environmental marketing. These guidelines, enforced by the Central Consumer Protection Agency, require businesses to substantiate claims with independent evidence and provide transparent disclosures. Complementing this is the updated Eco Mark certification, which labels products based on both environmental and quality standards. While large businesses welcome the move toward greater accountability, implementation challenges remain for SMEs and require increased public awareness and capacity building.

• Indian consumers show a strong intent to shop sustainably, but a significant gap exists between intent and action due to misleading claims; one study found 79% of environmental claims by organizations were exaggerated or misleading, and 71% of consumers reported greenwashing incidents.
• The 2024 Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Greenwashing and Misleading Environmental Claims define greenwashing as deceptive practices including the use of misleading imagery or the omission of relevant information to exaggerate environmental benefits.
• Under the 2024 Guidelines, businesses are prohibited from using vague terms like "eco-friendly" or "green" unless they provide credible substantiation, accessible qualifiers, and adequate disclosure. All claims must be supported by independent studies or third-party certifications, including voluntary sustainability standards.
• The guidelines mandate specific disclosure requirements, including the use of digital tools like QR codes for material information, the prohibition of selective data presentation, and the requirement for a clear actionable plan when making forward-looking claims such as carbon neutrality.
• Enforcement of the guidelines is handled by the Central Consumer Protection Agency under the Consumer Protection Act of 2019, with penalties for first-time offenders including up to 2 years imprisonment and a fine of up to INR 10 lakh.
• India updated its 1991 Eco Mark scheme with new 2024 rules to align with the Lifestyle for Environment Mission (LiFE). Unlike some global labels, the Eco Mark requires products to satisfy both environmental and quality standards to qualify.
• While large consumer-facing businesses in sectors like textiles and retail welcome the guidelines for improving brand integrity and global alignment, SMEs may lack the resources to comply and require targeted capacity-building support.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2025). Combatting Greenwashing. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2025-11/combatting-greenwashing-india.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Combatting Greenwashing. 2025. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2025-11/combatting-greenwashing-india.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Combatting Greenwashing |date=November 2025 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2025-11/combatting-greenwashing-india.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2025combatting, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Combatting Greenwashing}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2025-11/combatting-greenwashing-india.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }