COMMMUNICATING CLIMATE NEUTRALITY

All processes in the communication of climate neutrality need to be designed in such a way that stakeholders immediately grasp how ‘climate-neutral’ status is obtained and what it actually means. So it is essential to provide transparent and easily understandable background information on climate neutrality in all communication.

Germany’s competition watchdog, the Wettbewerbszentrale, and other organisations like Deutsche Umwelthilfe are currently conducting a series of test cases to clarify the admissibility of the term ‘climate neutral‘ in commercial communication. It is doing so to protect consumers from misleading advertising claims. As things stand, there are no blanket regulations, but initial court rulings have upheld the demands of the Wettbewerbszentrale for greater transparency. In particular, the process by which climate neutrality is obtained must be stated in the immediate proximity of the advertising claim if the ‘climate-neutral’ attribute becomes a criterion that prompts consumers to make a purchase. In the Fokus Zukunft seal of approval, we therefore include the addition “Climate neutral via offsetting” as standard and only provide this in conjunction with a QR code including a link to a landing page with further background information.

Greenwashing basically means communication that presents something as ‘greener’ than it actually is. In regard to climate neutrality, this refers to the accusation that some companies merely exploit the comparatively simple and inexpensive method of offsetting in order to use the ‘climate-neutral’ label in their advertising and accommodate the growing demand for ‘green products’. Critics opine that this does not constitute any earnest undertaking to reduce the carbon footprint in the long term and that the communication is therefore misleading. So in order to prevent accusations of greenwashing, successful communication of climate neutrality must also include information about planned and implemented reduction measures, in addition to explanation of the offsetting efforts.

The Fokus Zukunft label, which we issue as a seal of approval and certificate, serves as a compact communication tool for companies to demonstrate the offsetting of previously balanced emissions with high-quality and internationally recognised climate protection certificates. The official Seal Guidelines describe in detail which requirements companies must fulfil in order to receive the seal.

We provide a communication package to help companies in the successful communication of their climate neutrality and in presenting themselves as responsible enterprises. Among other things, the seal of approval can be used to inform stakeholders about the company’s commitment to climate protection in email signatures, on stationery, websites, flyers, roll-ups or product packaging.