“Eco-friendly.” “Carbon neutral.” “Net-zero.”
These kinds of claims are a near-constant in advertising campaigns and promotions.
But it can be difficult to know if they are true.
The federal government wants to strengthen how the Competition Bureau handles complaints about “greenwashing” — a blanket term for misleading or unsupported statements about a product or company’s environmental record.
Even with those changes, though, advocates say Canada will still be far behind the European Union and other jurisdictions when it comes to making sure a company’s statements are accurate.
“We are lagging,” said Matt Hulse, a lawyer with the Canadian environmental group Ecojustice.
“We’re seeing decisions by competition
