Guide to navigating greenwashing in the life sciences industry

The Danish Consumer Ombudsman has observed an increase in cases concerning misleading environmental claims, often referred to as "greenwashing".

This trend has affected various industries, including the life sciences industry, where sustainability claims face the additional challenge of complying with the strict advertising regulations for pharmaceuticals. As a result, LIF has published a guide on how to communicate green initiatives when marketing pharmaceuticals.

Balancing green claims with compliance

The fear of being accused of greenwashing has led to a phenomenon known as "greenhushing", where companies refrain from promoting their green initiatives. 

To assist companies in properly marketing green initiatives, LIF has published a guide authored by Camille Aulkær Andersen, a Partner at Kompas Kommunikation and responsible for sustainability communication. 

Camille Aulkær Andersen emphasizes the importance of clear and substantiated claims, drawing a parallel to the pharmaceutical industry. Marketing green initiatives follows a similar principle: claims regarding impact and effectiveness must be backed by evidence.

For the life science industry, this analogy highlights the necessity of substantiating claims such as "climate-friendly" or "sustainable" with reliable and transparent evidence. Such an approach ensures not only compliance with existing regulations but also helps maintain credibility in the market.

Upcoming Green Claims Directive

The Green Claims Directive aims to contribute to accelerating the green transition, protecting consumers and businesses against misleading environmental claims, and thereby also ensuring a level playing field in the EU internal market.

The Directive introduces requirements to standardize how companies substantiate and communicate their environmental claims and initiatives. 

According to Camille Aulkær Andersen, the Green Claims Directive can be expected to align closely with the industry's current practices, meaning that the rules will resemble the regulation of marketing prescription medicines, which companies are already familiar with and accustomed to complying with.

The guide from the Danish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry can be accessed here (in Danish). 

For more information about the Green Claims Directive, we refer to our previous coverage here.