Greenwashing ‘rife’ across the UK Supermarket sector

August 29, 2023

Greenwashing vector illustration, businessman paints industrial plant sign in green color with the use of roller, metaphor of imitation of green production policy by corporations — Image: @ Oleksandr Khoma | iStock

Liam Lysaght, Campaigner at Feedback Global, writes about recent analysis showing that greenwashing is ‘rife’ across the UK supermarket sector

A new report released by environmental charity Feedback found that greenwashing is commonplace in the UK’s food retail sector.

Drawing on a scorecard that assesses supermarkets’ climate claims and in-store practices using twelve indicators, in accordance with academic research into common greenwashing strategies, the report argues that by failing to adopt credible plans to address their biggest sources of emissions – in particular, sales of meat and dairy products – retailers are evading credible climate action.

Meanwhile, supermarkets’ climate-friendly marketing is focussed on small, relatively insignificant green initiatives, which may mislead consumers about product sustainability and retailers’ overall brand image.

Despite these marketing campaigns aimed at the evermore environmentally conscious public, supermarkets continue to employ traditional sales tactics such as multi-buy offers to sell products with the highest environmental footprint – i.e., meat and dairy products.

Moreover, while eight out of ten supermarkets have set net zero goals, none has published a detailed pathway for how they will reach this ambition.

Radical changes to the UK food system are needed

We already know that the UK cannot address the climate and biodiversity crises without radical changes to its food system. The government’s advisors, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), recommend a ‘diet change away from meat and dairy’ ⁽¹⁾ and to ‘reduce consumption of animal protein’ ⁽²⁾ to meet national climate targets.

Not only because agricultural emissions represent ~10% of the UK total (with the carbon footprint of our food up to 52% higher when including imports and exports), but also because freed-up agricultural land offers a significant opportunity for carbon sequestration.

As almost all the food consumed in the UK passes through supermarkets, shoppers must rely on the retail giants to help them shop sustainably. Despite this, no UK supermarket has a target to reduce its meat and dairy sales.

For example, the UK’s biggest retailer, Tesco, promotes its growing network of electric delivery vans, branded ‘Greener Greens’, drawing associations with personal and environmental health. Yet even when up to total capacity, electric vans will only represent an emission saving equivalent to 0.1% of Tesco’s yearly emissions.

Meanwhile, Feedback has calculated that Tesco’s meat and dairy sales represent roughly a third of their emissions, or around 24.8 million tonnes of CO₂ annually.

Guidance for companies on greenwashing

Arm’s-length regulators of advertising and marketing are catching up to this problem, but the government does not adequately support this.

The Advertising Standards Authority’s new guidance for companies on greenwashing urges environmental claims to reference the company’s broader environmental impact or risk being regulated as misleading.

Similarly, the Competition and Markets Authority’s Green Claims Code also states that claims must not mislead consumers by giving them an inaccurate view of how sustainable or green a business truly is.

The supermarket sector overall fails to abide by the Green Claims Code

On the back of these guidelines, Feedback has submitted a general complaint to the CMA regarding the sector’s overall failings to abide by the Green Claims Code, and made other reports regarding two supermarket claims, awaiting results.

Despite this increased level of scrutiny by industry regulators, these arm’s-length bodies do not hold the regulatory power of policymakers in Westminster.

The CCC’s Sixth Carbon Budget suggests that there are ‘low-cost, low-regret’ (3) measures available to promote an essential dietary shift away from meat and dairy products. The government is so far failing to adopt these necessary measures.

In June, the Court of Appeal upheld Feedback’s right to challenge the government’s 2022 Food Strategy as unlawful, given its lack of policies to reduce meat and dairy production and consumption. The full case will be heard in November.

Sustainable and healthy food in the UK

Overall, providing sustainable and healthy food in the UK is at a watershed moment, but the major stakeholders aren’t moving. Feedback is campaigning to see an end to greenwashing, misleading claims, and credible net zero pathways from retailers, accompanied by meaningful steps to address the bulk of their emissions.

If regulator action on greenwashing and public pressure can’t generate these shifts, the government’s own legally binding net zero targets could be in jeopardy, prompting them to make the decisions mandatory.

Additional author: Jessica Sinclair-Taylor, Head of Policy & Media at Feedback Global.