The transition to net zero means that companies are understandably keen to highlight such credentials, and existing and upcoming legislation in various jurisdictions, including the UK, requires certain companies to make public sustainability and environmental disclosures in annual reports and elsewhere. However, companies now face a delicate balancing act between advertising such credentials and making such disclosures, and the increased litigation risk from NGOs and other actors as well as regulatory enforcement and sanctions. The ASA’s recent decisions build upon industry-specific investigations into green claims conducted by the Competition and Markets Authority earlier this year.

The UK Government published on 25 April 2023 its long-awaited Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill. The Bill introduces radical new digital sector regulation – akin to the EU’s Digital Markets Act – in addition to expanding the UK Competition & Markets Authority’s consumer protection powers and introducing significant reforms for the UK competition regime.

Join Baker McKenzie’s Consumer Goods & Retail Industry Group for their events entitled Redefining Luxury & Fashion: What Fits in the Future? scheduled to take place in London on Tuesday, 14 March 2023 and in Paris on Thursday, 16 March 2023.

Off the Shelf, the Global Consumer Goods & Retail (CG&R) Industry Video Podcast, provides short practical legal insights into the key issues affecting consumer goods and retail businesses. Increasingly, the desire for CG&R companies to include references and claims about their sustainability stems from the demand by consumers to know more about the brands they engage with, particularly their sustainability credentials, and this is driving this trend for green/sustainability claims to be increasingly featured and promoted.