"Environmental groups, industries and individuals are jostling to sway the Federal Trade Commission as the regulator mulls revising guidelines that shape how far companies can go in portraying themselves and their products as environmentally friendly.

An update of the so-called Green Guides, for the first time in more than a decade, would have sweeping impact. Beyond clarifying what should be advertised as “organic” or “recyclable,” the guides influence state laws on marketing fraud, and even how plaintiffs hurl accusations of greenwashing at multinationals.

It also comes amid colossal shifts in climate marketing, consumer perception and science, and as the Biden administration pushes agencies to address climate change while politicians, industries and activists battle over regulators’ roles.

“The more confusion there is around what’s real and what’s not, and what’s greenwashing and what’s not, the more exasperated consumers will get,” said Hana Vizcarra, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, a nonprofit public-interest environmental law organization."

Clara Hudson reports for Bloomberg Environment April 21, 2023. [2]