EVENT Report

The event was organised to propagate CUTS work on condemning bad advertising, which promotes over-consumption and unsustainable consumption with cases from India.

In his introductory speech, Arjun Dutta, Consumer Unity & Trust Society said that out of the various areas of work on which his organisation focuses, one important area is research and advocacy on advertising, environmental claims and effects on sustainable consumption. This work draws its mandate from Chapter 4 of Agenda 21, which is “assisting individuals and households to make environmentally sound purchasing decisions. Besides being an issue of ‘Information for decision-making’ this has benefited from Chapter 40 of Agenda 21. Mandates provided by Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) at Rio+5 and CSD7 have also catalysed this work. 

Jeffrey Barber, Integrative Strategies Forum, in his presentation titled “Consumption, Advertising and the Quality of Life” established the linkage between advertising and sustainable production and consumption. He first described consumption, investment, production and distribution cycle and its sustainability. He said that “the major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialised countries is a matter of grave concern.” He then elucidated the Chapter IV objectives, namely:

• Promote patterns of consumption and production that reduce environmental stress and will meet the basic needs of humanity.

• Develop a better understanding of the role of consumption and how to bring about more sustainable consumption patterns

• Promote efficiency in production processes and reduce wasteful consumption

• Develop a domestic policy framework that will encourage a shift to more sustainable patterns of production and consumption

• Policies that encourage the transfer of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries

Barber called for reinforcing values that encourage SPAC. This meant that the media, advertising and marketing sectors should be encouraged to help shape sustainable consumption patterns. He illustrated cases of rise in meat consumption, energy consumption, fossil fuel Consumption, Mc Donald Restaurants. Citing statistics on global spending on advertisements and growth in advertising he pointed out that priorities vary between regions and countries. While $6bn is spent on advertisements on basic education in Europe, $11bn is spent on ice creams. Pet foods in Europe and US account for $17 bn, cigarettes in Europe account for $50bn while military spending in the world is worth $780bn. He said that there are three global investment priorities, namely:

• Destructive subsidies

• Military

• Advertising

He opined that even after ten years after the Rio Summit failure to implement Agenda 21 has led to

• continued environmental degradation,

• widening gap between rich and poor,

• few resources for sustainable development but plenty for military,

• no global enforcement mechanisms for environmental or social treaties

• low media coverage/public awareness of sustainable development issues

Carolyn-Nunley Cairns, Consumers Union, speaking on ISO 14000 standards and Ecolabels said that as companies seek to capitalize on consumer’s desires to buy environmentally sound products. This is the reason why ‘green’ labeling is proliferating in the marketplace. Wood products, food, household cleansers, clothes and appliances are some of the types of products on which labels appear that suggest environmental or social attributes. Some of these represent certified, verifiable claims supported by clearly defined standards, such as the “organic” label now overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Others are unverified and in many cases are undefined or unsubstantiated claims. Claims of recycled, biodegradable, natural, dolphin-safe, environmentally friendly, rain forest safe, energy efficient, lead-free, and phosphate-free products are among the many on store shelves.

She opined that truthful, meaningful labels can be a powerful force in shaping consumer demand and thereby moving production practices towards more environmentally sound methods. However, the current quantity and variety of labels are very confusing to consumers. It is not always clear what the label actually means, whether it is truthful, and who or what stands behind it. Consumers have had no resource to consult to get this information. These problems blunt the effectiveness of labels as tools to communicate and reward responsible business practices.

The following is a description of the criteria used by Consumers Union to evaluate ecolabels:

• Meaningful And Verifiable: Eco-labels should have a set of environmentally meaning full standards. These standards should be verifiable by the certifier or another independent inspection organization.

• Consistent And Clear: An eco-label used on one product should have the same meaning if used on other products. Standards should be written in a way that can be verified in a consistent manner so that the label is consistent in meaning among different products. 

• Transparent: The organization behind an eco-label should make information about organizational structure, funding, board of directors, and certification standards available to the public. If such information is withheld, it is difficult to determine the meaning and clarity of the standards or the independence of the certifying organization.

• Independent And Protection from Conflict of Interest: Organizations establishing standards and deciding who can use a logo should not have any ties to, and should not receive any funding from the sale of certified products or contributions from logo users beyond fees for certification. Employees of companies whose products or contributions from logo users beyond fees for certification. Employees of companies whose products are certified, or applying for certification should not be on the board of directors of companies whose products are certified, or applying for certification should not be on the board of directors of the organization being certified. Some certifying organizations have explicit conflict of interest policies prohibiting such affiliations.

• Opportunities For Public Comment: All certification standards should be developed with input from multiple stakeholders including consumers, industry, environmentalists and social representatives in a way that doesn’t compromise the independence of the certifier. For example, industry representatives can play an important advisory role without having direct financial, decision-making or management ties to the certifier.

She mentioned that Consumers Union has developed www.eco-labels.org to help educate consumers about these labels. Consumers Union believes that the best eco-labels are seals or logos indicating that an independent organization has verified that a product meets a set of meaningful and consistent standards for environmental protection and/or social justice.

Arjun Dutta, CUTS making his presentation on green ads and their truthfulness with cases from India said that they have been closely following advertisements in India and found that organisation which indulge in green advertisements have products which harm the environment.

In India, there is an increasing tendency of giving green advertisements for automobiles, coir blankets, oils, power generators and refrigerators. He presented six different cases illustrating which wording of the advertisement was violating ISO 14021 norms. He started with the case of Whirlpool Quick Chill refrigerator advertisement, which stated that in 1999 Whirlpool started advertising saying “in their Quick Chill model harmful gases used in normal refrigerators has been replaced by environment friendly ones.” This was a violation of the ISO norms. During this period CUTS was working on a project on Ecofrig and had all documents to establish that the new gas, which Whirlpool was using, was not environment friendly. Initially CUTS wrote to Whirlpool asking for their justification and not hearing from them lodged a complaint with the Advertsing Standards Council of India (ASCI) the apex council for keeping check on false advertisements. After a panel discussion the complaint lodged by CUTS was upheld and Whirlpool was forced to withdraw their advertisement. Although this was a victory for CUTS they would have been happier if Whirlpool was asked to give a counter advertisement saying that the earlier advertisement was misleading.

The other cases, which were illustrated, had use of wordings “eco-friendly, environmentfriendly, biodegradable” and use of the recyclable sign (mobius loop) and beauty without cruelty seal of approval. Organisation involved of indulging in these types of misleading environmental claims came both from the private as well as government owned units. Some of the companies like TELCO have also argued that ISO 14021 standards are not compulsory in India so they are doing the best they could in absence of any norm.

He said that in the Indian context, ASCI’s functioning and complaint handling procedure needs to be fined tuned in accordance to the ISO 14000 norms to ensure that corporate organisations whether private owned or government owned are stopped from making misleading environment claims.

Swati Raut, Southern Coordinator for Science and Technology, speaking on the eco-efficiency and effective programs of designs and the potential role of information technology to promote this said that environmental credibility is becoming a key factor in national and international competitiveness. Many companies around the world still see standards as restrictive and imposing potential barriers to trade. Designing processes/ equipment to include environmental considerations requires an evaluation of all aspects of a product or service although this is not explicitly stated by ISO 14021 standards.

There is a general perception among corporate organisations that eco-efficiency means higher costs and lower profits. However, with stricter enforcement of environmental legislation in the North coupled with heightened awareness of customers and stakeholders on the potential risks associated with environmental liabilities, the corporate organisations are forced to adopt Environment Management systems in the North. On the other hand, the scenario in the South is completely different. Here environment legislation is weak coupled with low consumer awareness. Consumers are not aware enough to question the credibility or truthfulness Ecolabels and green advertisements. Hence, corporate organisations are making false/ misleading claims or indulging in double standards to reap maximum benefit due lack of information Wider usage of information technology can play a big role in increasing consumer awareness on these issues in the South.
 

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CENTRE FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION (C-SPAC) 

3 Suren Tagore Road, 2nd Floor 
Calcutta 700 019, India 
Ph:  91.33.2460 1424 
Fax: 91.33.2440 7669 
E-mail:   cuts-calcutta@cuts.org, cspac@cuts-international.org