Last November 3rd Thomas Gonzalez-Cruz, director of the Chair of Business and Humanism of the University of Valencia has participated as a moderator in the Webinar 'How to avoid the negative impacts of greenwashing in the company', organized by the Valencia Chamber of Commerce Sustainability Office.
The event was attended by Tomas Manfredi, Head of the Administrative Law department at Rivero Gustafson Abogados; Alejandro Resink, Product Manager of CSR at EQA, a certification body for inspection and verification; and Isabel Castillo from the Sustainability Office.
"Greenwashing is the use of deceptive advertising strategies by companies that seek to present themselves as sustainable when they are not."
Isabel Castillo
Isabel has highlighted the importance of knowing in depth the meaning and causes of Greenwashing, a term that It is used "for the use of deceptive advertising strategies by companies seeking to present themselves as sustainable companies aligned with the 2030 agenda and the SDGs without actually being so." These companies face various consequences that affect both their reputation and their finances, because the market and the public are beginning to punish this activity.
Furthermore, the use of greenwashing also generates serious legal consequences for the companies that practice it, with sanctions that go beyond the payment of multi-million dollar fines.
"The legal system has begun to prosecute these types of practices for offenses related to misleading advertising, fraud, and unfair management, among others, which can carry up to several years in prison," said Tomás Manfredi.
The CEiH encourages companies to avoid the use of greenwashing and to go beyond simply complying with regulations by adopting prevention mechanisms, relying on compliance, and on trained personnel with knowledge of sustainability and CSR.
This is why the Chair has recently launched the programs of University Expert in Socially Responsible Entrepreneurship and Diploma of Specialization in Social Responsibility and Sustainability, which aim to train professionals to design, structure and implement the CSR strategies required by social organizations and enterprises.
