How can we tell which companies are really green?

While the past months may have seen fears of financial apocalypse push climate change out of the headlines, the impact of business on the environment remains firmly embedded in both government regulation and customer and shareholder awareness.

In short, companies that can demonstrate genuine action in improving the sustainability of their products and processes will be more successful in the future.

They will, however, have to be able convince increasingly knowledgeable and sceptical observers. Specialist sustainability PR firm Futerra has felt the need to issue its own greenwash guide, aimed at curbing the over-enthusiastic eco-friendliness of communications officers.

Futerra believes that confidence in companies’ sustainability claims is at an all-time low: only 10 per cent of consumers say that they trust green information from business and government. Comprehensible, trustworthy metrics have never been more in demand.

What gets measured...

Basic principles are simple - a business wanting to reassure its customers and shareholders needs to understand the...

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