CMA Guidance & Local Authority Procurement

This week the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) released a document titled the ‘Green Claims Code’ and a link to the CMA guidance is here and the document here.

It is an attempt to get rid of ‘greenwashing’ and focus on the environmental claims made by businesses and make sure that claims comply with the law. The CMA has published the Code to help businesses ensure they are communicating green credentials in a way that complies with the law. Why is it relevant to local authorities? So, as well as being a large buyer, councils also make claims about the ‘greenness’ of their actions and objectives.

From a local government procurement perspective, the guidance makes it clear that responsibility for green claims could be with a manufacturer, a retailer or another party in the supply chain and this is something buyers need to bear in mind.

The 6 principles (see below) make sense and seem obvious. They also provide a learning point for local authorities. We have said before that councils can not claim to be serious about tackling climate change if they ignore the emissions linked to the goods and services they buy. You will know that it can be a tough job identifying the emissions linked to a new computer but that isn’t the only option. Putting pressure on your suppliers, if they are big companies, is an alternative – are they using green energy? Do they deliver in electric vehicles? What is their plan for being carbon neutral by 2050 or earlier? How do they track their own suppliers? And where is their evidence? Smaller companies need a different approach – they require advice and support but must show a willingness to play their part.

This approach needs the council to set out a clear message, engage with suppliers, provide support where needed, have internal discussions between the services and procurement and a culture which makes innovation a central element of governance arrangements.  

If protesters are willing to walk into the middle of the M25 at 8am on a Monday morning, rest assured they won’t think twice about calling local authorities to account for not addressing their own stated priorities.

If you can see any weaknesses in your council’s procurement approach where climate change is concerned then others can too and someone is likely to make a big deal about it as a result.

The guidance lists 6 principles which should be met when making claims and they are as follows:-.

1. Claims must be truthful and accurate – this enables consumers to make informed choices about what they buy. Claims must not be misleading and only give consumers the impression that a product, service, process, brand or business is as green and sustainable as it really is.
2. Claims must be clear and unambiguous - claims should be easily understood. They should not be presented in ways that are liable to be confusing or to give the impression that a product, service, brand or business is better for the environment than it is.
3. Claims must not omit or hide important information - what isn’t said can also influence the decisions consumers make. So all information needed to make an informed choice should be available. It is vital that businesses pay close attention to the information on environmental impacts that consumers need to make decisions and reflect that in the claims they make.
4. Comparisons must be fair and meaningful - it is important that consumers are not misled by the way comparative claims are made. Comparisons should be based on clear, up to date and objective information.
5. In making the claim the full life cycle of the product or service must be considered - All aspects of a product’s or service’s environmental impact over its life cycle, including its supply chain, could be important, including its component parts; how and where it is manufactured, produced or carried out; how it is transported from its place of manufacture or origin; its use or performance; the disposal of a product, and any waste or by-products; the consequences of any environmental benefit claimed and the period in which it would be realised; and whether the product or service has an overall adverse impact.
6. Claims must be substantiated - most environmental claims are likely to be objective or factual claims that can be tested against scientific or other evidence. Given the requirement that claims must be truthful and accurate, businesses should have evidence to support them.