Dr Matthew Rimmer.
Law reform and tougher legal sanctions to stop greenwashing are critical, according to a leading intellectual property expert from The Australian National University. "Greenwashing is corporate spin which involves making misleading or deceptive claims that a company's products or services are environmentally sustainable or friendly," said Matthew Rimmer, an ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor at the ANU College of Law. "Such conduct is putting consumers at a disadvantage and giving some businesses an unfair advantage in a market increasingly concerned about the environment and climate change." Rimmer said that the problem of greenwashing requires a robust, integrated approach to law reform. "There is a need to update and reform advertising law, consumer law, and trade mark law," he said. "In regards to advertising law, the Australian Advertising Standards Bureau has developed a green code, but it has not effectively enforced this code. This immediately raises concerns about whose interests it will serve - the mad men of Madison Avenue or consumers. By comparison, the United Kingdom Advertising Standards Authority has been much more vigilant about greenwashing.
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