Canada's consumer watchdog has ideas about how to crack down on greenwashing

The head of Canada's com‐ petition bureau, which reg‐ ulates misleading market‐ ing, wants more power from the federal govern‐ ment to tackle claims about companies' environ‐ mental commitments.

Competition commis‐ sioner Matthew Boswell re‐ cently sent a letter to MPs and senators asking them to consider how to strengthen rules governing greenwash‐ ing, which is when a com‐ pany makes misleading or unsupported statements to appear more environmental‐ ly friendly than it is.

Bill C-59, which was tabled last November and is making its way through Parliament, would require businesses that claim a product has envi‐ ronmental benefits to back up their statements with "an adequate and proper test."

Boswell suggested that proposal could be expanded outside of just products to al‐ so include "environmental claims about a business or brand as a whole" to reflect many of the more general greenwashing complaints the bureau receives.

As an example, he men‐ tioned companies claiming to go "net zero" or "carbon neu‐ tral by 2030."

Such claims can be diffi‐ cult to put to a test, he said, but businesses "should at least be able to substantiate them if challenged."

The 12-page letter, which includes a number of sugges‐ tions on improving the Com‐ petition Act, was first re‐ ported on by the National

Observer.

The commissioner's com‐ ments echo concerns from climate activists, who have argued that Bill C-59's pro‐ posed changes don't go far enough in regulating environ‐ mental claims.

They pointed to the Euro‐ pean Union as an example of a jurisdiction that is going further. Under proposed EU legislation, terms like "envi‐ ronmentally friendly," "natur‐ al," "biodegradable" and "cli‐ mate neutral" would be pro‐ hibited - unless a company can offer proof.

'Too narrowly focused'

Canada's Competition Bu‐ reau is investigating several cases of alleged greenwash‐ ing by Canadian corpora‐ tions.

Those include one for En‐ bridge Gas, for presenting natural gas as a low-carbon, cost-effective way for Ontari‐ ans to heat their homes, and another into Pathways Al‐ liance, a lobby group repre‐ senting major oil producers, for its "Let's clear the air" ad campaign.

Those were launched in response to complaints from advocacy groups Environ‐ mental Defence and Green‐ peace, respectively.

In a statement, Enbridge said it is "committed to cooperating with the Competi‐ tion Bureau," but declined to comment on the specifics. Pathways Alliance did not re‐ spond. Neither case has been settled.

Critics say the current pro‐ cess is ineffective and slowmoving. Matt Hulse, a lawyer with the environmental law non-profit Ecojustice, said Boswell's recommendations show "he recognizes that greenwashing is an impor‐ tant issue that the current Competition Act is not able to adequately address."

Ecojustice has filed sever‐ al complaints with the bu‐ reau.

Hulse added he'd like to

see legislation go further, by requiring companies to make the proof about their envi‐ ronmental claims publicly available, "ideally at the point of purchase - to allow con‐ sumers and others to check the truthfulness of their claims."

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, which oversees the Competition Bureau, did not return a request for com‐ ment Wednesday. A spokesperson told the Na‐ tional Observer that the gov‐ ernment is committed to fighting greenwashing and will take Boswell's recom‐ mendations into considera‐ tion.

NDP wants to go further

Earlier this year, New Demo‐ crat MP Charlie Angus tabled a private member's bill that would ban what the party called misleading fossil fuel advertising, similar to how cigarette ads were restricted in the 1990s.

Julia Levin, an associate director with Environmental Defence, supports that step. But she said Boswell's pro‐ posed changes would, for now, provide "additional tools to fight greenwashing."

"We need to take what we did for tobacco and do it for oil and gas," she said. "But in the meantime, companies should not be allowed to run misinformation campaigns without any kind of public re‐ sponse or scrutiny or ac‐ countability."