Competition Bureau investigating Lululemon over greenwashing allegations
Canada's Competition Bu‐ reau has opened a formal investigation into Lulule‐ mon's environmental claims in its marketing campaigns, a spokesperson for the agency told CBC News on Monday.
Marianne Blondin con‐ firmed in an email that the Competition Bureau "has commenced an investigation under the Competition Act into the alleged deceptive marketing practices."
"There is no conclusion of wrongdoing at this time," she wrote. "As the Bureau is ob‐ ligated by law to conduct its work confidentially, I cannot provide further details on this case at this time."
Stand.earth, the nonprofit that filed the complaint against the B.C. athleisure gi‐ ant accusing it of greenwash‐ ing, had announced the in‐ vestigation earlier on Mon‐ day.
The complaint, which the non-profit said was filed in February, says Lululemon's Be Planet sustainability cam‐ paign from 2020 - in which the company said it would work to reduce its green‐ house gas emissions - is con‐ tradicted by a 2022 impact report that outlined Lulule‐ mon's progress in reaching its climate goals.
The impact report shows the company's Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions - indirect emissions that occur as a result of a company's ac‐ tivities, including those pro‐ duced by customers using its products- increased from about 471,100 tonnes in 2020 to 847,400 tonnes in 2022. Lululemon wrote in its report that this area "needs acceleration."
The company also wrote in 2020 that it "leaned into in‐ vestments and partnerships to develop sustainable mate‐ rials that demonstrate our leadership in product innova‐ tion and environmental harm reduction."
A spokesperson for Lul‐ ulemon said the company is aware of the "review" by the Competition Bureau and that it is "committed to co-operat‐ ing on any next steps."
"We are confident that its review will confirm that the representations we make to the public are accurate and well-supported," the spokesperson said in the statement to CBC News on Monday.
'Not about trying to punish'
Last year, Lululemon part‐ nered with a startup to cre‐ ate clothes from recycled ny‐ lon and polyester. But the re‐ port from Stand.earth says many of the company's pro‐ ducts continue to be made with polyester or nylon, both of which are materials manu‐ factured from fossil fuels.
"We would like to create a win-win solution with Lulule‐ mon to see them really target and eliminate the climate pollution in their supply chain," Todd Paglia, executive director of Stand.earth, told CBC News.
"If they did, we would drop our Competition Bu‐ reau complaint. This is about results, not about trying to punish Lululemon."
WATCH | Lululemon's marketing campaigns under fire from environment groups:
Under Section 9 of the Competition Act, any six Canadian residents who be‐ lieve that a company is violat‐ ing the act can apply to the bureau commissioner to launch an investigation.
Paglia previously called out Lululemon for green‐ washing, a term used to de‐ scribe when companies, gov‐ ernments or individuals mis‐ lead others on their environ‐ mental practice or environ‐ mental benefits.
No legal obligation
Anika Kozlowski, an assistant professor of fashion design, ethics and sustainability at Toronto Metropolitan Univer‐ sity, says there is legal re‐ course if the bureau deter‐ mines that Lululemon greenwashing.
"But in terms of com‐ panies actually having to ful‐ fil these promises, there's re‐ ally no legal obligation on their end, as often these are just voluntary," she said.
Lululemon isn't the lone fashion retailer navigating these issues, Kozlowski says; it's an industry-wide prob‐ lem.
"When you look at what the root cause is, it's just endless production and the type of materials that we're using," she said, referring to petroleum-based synthetic fabrics in particular.
"Even if we did it sustain‐ ably, there's still going to be impact if we're doing it at the volume that these companies are doing it."
She says if the Competi‐ tion Bureau finds that Lulule‐ mon uses deceptive market‐ ing, it "will just help clear the is waters for consumers, if they are trying to shop better, [so] that they understand a bit more what they're buying.
WATCH | CBC Kids News explains greenwashing:
Speaking with CBC News outside of a Lululemon store in Toronto, Gracie Valentine said that greenwashing is "pretty big nowadays, unfor‐ tunately."
"Companies are pretty much just allowed to say whatever, so it's hard to even know which ones to shop at now," Valentine said.
Shavana Kunj, who was window-shopping with Valen‐ tine, said that company exec‐ utives should be held respon‐ sible for a brand's business practices - not the shoppers who buy their products.
"I'm wearing Lululemon right now. It sucks, but I'm still going to shop at the
places that I like," Kunj said.
A spokesperson for Lul‐ ulemon previously told CBC News the company is fo‐ cused on helping create an industry that is "more sus‐ tainable and addresses the serious impacts of climate change."
The company is commit‐ ted to its decarbonization plan, the spokesperson ad‐ ded, with the aim of meeting its 2030 climate targets and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
"We recognize that the majority of impact comes from emissions within the broader supply chain," the spokesperson wrote, adding that the company reported on its own emissions in the 2022 annual report.
READ | Stand.earth's let‐ ter from Canada's Competi‐ tion Bureau: