Note: This advice is given by the CAP Executive about non-broadcast advertising. It does not constitute legal advice. It does not bind CAP, CAP advisory panels or the Advertising Standards Authority.
In 2021 the ASA and CAP launched a Climate Change and the Environment (CCE) project, to respond to the ongoing climate crisis and take action to ensure that environmental claims in advertising are not misleading or irresponsible. Updates about our work in this area are published here.
The project consists of several strands, including:
- Sector-specific reviews, focusing on previous ASA work on these issues, common claims in ads for these sectors, and any recent legislation or developments in understanding of their environmental impacts
- Research into consumer understanding of different types of environmental claims
- Targeted investigations, to establish new precedent and take action against advertisers who use green claims in a way that is likely to mislead or cause harm
- Updates to our existing resources, and creation of new educational material
Please see the updated CAP Advertising Guidance on The environment: misleading claims and social responsibility in advertising, and the new e-learning module that covers the rules on Climate Change and the Environment.
While this advice represents the current position, the ASA’s CCE project is actively reviewing our approach to these issues, which may lead to further rulings and updates to this guidance.
Marketers of household renewable electricity generating products, for example, solar panels or domestic wind turbines, should not exaggerate their products’ impact. Marketers should not over-state the amount of energy their products can generate and should not mislead about either the financial or environmental benefits. When claiming consumers could save money compared with traditional supply, marketers should not mislead by, for example, omitting to include purchase and installation costs (Solar Home (UK) Ltd, 24 Jan 2007, RM Solar Ltd, 28th February 2007 and Solar Connection Ltd, 12th October 2011). In 2010, a marketer of solar panels was found to have exaggerated the claimed savings by conflating bills for both gas and electricity. Because solar panels would not offset costs associated with gas consumption, for example central heating, the ASA ruled the ad misleading (Solar Fusion, 25th August 2010).
See Environmental Claims and Electricity from Renewable Sources