Professor Steve Brammer, the Dean of the School of Management and sustainability expert, gives us his valuable insight into the world of greenwashing. He explains the concept of decoupling and brownwashing, how businesses overcome the lenient regulations, and even provides us with habits he has adopted to live a more sustainable lifestyle, such as avoiding the consumption of meat, fish, and dairy, and not owning a car.

Dr Annie Snelson-Powell, an assistant professor in Business and Society, speaks with us about her main research interest, greenwashing. She describes what the “talk-action” gap is in organisations, and from where the concept originates and goes on to define the environmental criteria used by investors to pressurise brands to abide by the regulations. Annie addresses how consumers can work towards closing the “talk-action” gap, urging us to be more curious and critical about the claims organisations make.

This week’s podcast covered greenwashing in the fashion industry, which is responsible for 10% of human carbon emissions. It is likely that this is not a well-known fact, considering up to 59% of green claims by both UK and European fashion brands are guilty of greenwashing. In this blog post, we delve into this problem further and suggest ways in which you can avoid brands that use greenwashing to sell their products.