UK, EU Regulators To Go Hard vs Greenwashing

Regulators in Europe are probing the green credentials of companies’ products and assets this week in a bid to tackle greenwashing.

Photo Insert: Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced the review a year after it started looking into misleading green claims in the fashion industry.

Britain's competition regulator will consider whether companies selling food, drink, and toiletries are wrongly labeling products as "sustainable" or "better for the environment," Reuters Sustainable Switch reported.

The regulator believes companies may be exaggerating their green credentials in an attempt to woo climate-conscious consumers in Britain's fast-moving consumer goods sector which is worth 130 billion pounds ($160 billion) a year.

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced the review a year after it started looking into misleading green claims in the fashion industry.

Major players in the sector include Unilever, Nestle, Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble, as well as manufacturers of private-label products for supermarkets. The CMA said it would scrutinize big and small companies.

Elsewhere, asset managers downgraded funds holding a total of 175 billion euros ($190 billion) of assets from the European Union's highest sustainability classification in the fourth quarter, Morningstar data shows, continuing a recent trend amid tighter regulations.

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