Legal Aspects of Greenwashing in International Law

Abstract

Background and Objective: Greenwashing refers to the misuse of environmental concepts and terms to deceive consumers and investors, which can include misleading advertising, providing false or ambiguous information about products and services, failure to disclose important information, and media greenwashing. Greenwashing not only negatively affects the reputation of companies, but can also have serious consequences for the environment. In fact, by deceiving consumers, companies may refrain from investing in truly sustainable projects, thereby undermining global efforts to combat climate change and protect natural resources. In relation to the phenomenon of greenwashing, some countries and organizations have prepared and published guiding or binding legal documents; by knowing and studying those documents while understanding the legal dimensions of the phenomenon of greenwashing, it is hoped that the importance of the country's survival in the need to prepare national legal documents on greenwashing can be realized.

Method: The research method was descriptive and analytical and library data collection.

Findings and results: Some countries such as the United States, England, Australia, Singapore, India and some organizations such as UNEP and the European Union have understood the importance of combating greenwashing through legal documents and have tried to prepare and publish them to help businesses advertise their products correctly and also protect consumer rights. In domestic law, the indirect effects of the requirements arising from some domestic legal documents can be effective in combating greenwashing. In some cases, such as Article 2 of the Executive Regulations of Article 7 of the Consumer Protection Law, certain requirements can be observed that are directly mentioned in the specific greenwashing documents of other countries as instances or examples of greenwashing.