Advertisements Containing Environmental Claims

Until recently, there was no regulation specifically applicable for advertisements containing environmental claims. Absent a specific regulation, the Advertisement Board used to conduct its evaluation on such advertisements pursuant to the provisions included in the Advertising Regulation which states that advertisements must not abuse consumers’ environmental sensitivity or lack of knowledge in this field.

For example, the Board in a decision rendered in October 2022 determined that a transportation company stated in its social media advertisements that the company saved CO2 emissions equal to 250.000 trees by the date of the post and evaluated that the company did not act in compliance with its burden of proof with respect to allowed environmental claims and the advertisements abused consumers’ environmental sensitivities and lack of knowledge. In conclusion, the Board issued a cease order with respect to the mentioned advertisements.

On the other hand, the Board in another decision rendered in October 2022 evaluated that the following statements “Aiming to Become the Greenest Airline of Our Country and Region, We reduce our Carbon Emission 20% by 2030!” included in the advertisements published by an air transportation company comply with advertising rules as these are related to the company’s future targets and apparently made pursuant to company’s open and verifiable strategy.

In December 2022, the Guideline on Advertisements Containing Environmental Claims was published. The Guideline consists of both detailed principles regarding advertisements containing environmental claims and practice tips. Some of the prominent provisions are as follows:

• General expressions such as “green”, “sustainable”, “eco”, “environment-friendly”, should not be used without further explanation or in a manner that causes ambiguity on the part of consumers.
• Advertisements should contain detailed information pertaining to what the environmental claim is about, for what and how it is used, and whether it wholly or partially pertains to the life cycle of the product.
• Environmental claims pertaining to the legal procedures and standards with which goods or services or advertisers must legally comply or procedures and components that should not normally be used, cannot be communicated in a manner that would cause the impression that the mentioned goods or service, procedure or the company is different than or superior to its rivals or equivalents.
• Environmental claims related to targeted future environmental impacts of goods or services may be used in advertisements only if such claims are included in a strategy plan that is publicly available and verifiable.
• The content of the comparison made through comparative environmental claims contained in advertisements, particularly whether the advertiser compares the mentioned product with its own previous products under the same brand or with products of its rivals, must explicitly be communicated.
• Any communication incompatible with sustainable consumption understanding, which underestimates the seriousness of consumer behaviours that cause environmental pollution or waste accumulation, encourages non-recyclable packings, directs consumers to ignore the environmental impact of their behaviours, encourages for or tolerates improper waste disposal, must be avoided.

The increasing prevalence of environmental claims in advertisements has become one of the factors necessitating the enactment of the Guideline. We believe that the Guideline, prepared by taking into account the sensitivity caused by such advertisements on the part of consumers and their serious environmental effect, will be useful for clarifying the regulations for advertisers and establishing a consistent and predictable practice.