A new analysis from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Provenance reveals that 74% of products sold online by UK retailers feature green claims, with an average of 2.9 such claims per product.
This reflects the retail sector’s response to growing consumer expectations for sustainability in recent years.
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The study analysed nearly 390,000 green claims across almost 132,000 stock-keeping units from seven major UK online supermarket retailers.
The findings also come in the context of the Competition & Markets Authority’s (CMA) Green Claims Code, which was introduced in September 2021.
The code mandates that all environmental claims be accurate, clear, substantiated by evidence, and consider the full lifecycle of a product. Claims must also be fair when compared with alternatives and include all relevant information.
Green claims were assessed based on their risk of violating these regulations, categorising them as low, medium, or high risk.
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By GlobalDataThe research identified that one in seven green claims carries a high risk of misleading consumers.
Although this requires attention, it is comparatively lower than the global review by the CMA which estimated that up to 40% of green claims could be deceptive.
At a category level, bakery and health and beauty products were most consistent with green claim guidelines.
Conversely, pets, household and baby, and frozen food categories had the highest proportion of high-risk green claims.
Carbon-related claims represented only 2.7% of all green claims, with 24% deemed high risk.
Nature-related claims made up 55% of all green assertions, with just 15% classified as high risk.
In response to these findings, BRC and Provenance are initiating the Retailer Green Claims Forum.
This collaborative effort aims to improve compliance and transparency regarding green claims within the retail sector.
The forum will also facilitate knowledge sharing among retailers and work towards unified industry standards for such claims.
BRC climate action roadmap manager Tracey Banks said: “It’s highly encouraging to see that retailers are responding to consumer demand for sustainability. We recognise, however, that the industry needs more support to ensure their green marketing is clear, accurate, and substantiated. What’s at stake is not just compliance but a very real green growth opportunity.
“Our new Retailer Green Claims Forum with Provenance is a timely and essential initiative to help sustainability leaders collaborate with experts and peers to master green claims compliance and realise their commercial value.”
