Canada’s Competition Bureau has opened a proper investigation into Lululemon’s environmental claims in its advertising campaigns, a spokesperson for the company instructed CBC News on Monday.
Marianne Blondin confirmed in an e mail that the Competition Bureau “has commenced an investigation under the Competition Act into the alleged deceptive marketing practices.”
“There is no conclusion of wrongdoing at this time,” she wrote. “As the Bureau is obligated by law to conduct its work confidentially, I cannot provide further details on this case at this time.”
Stand.earth, the non-profit that filed the grievance in opposition to the B.C. athleisure large accusing it of greenwashing, had introduced the investigation earlier on Monday.
The grievance, which the non-profit mentioned was filed in February, says Lululemon’s Be Planet sustainability marketing campaign from 2020 — wherein the corporate mentioned it might work to scale back its greenhouse gasoline emissions — is contradicted by a 2022 impact report that outlined Lululemon’s progress in reaching its local weather objectives.
The impression report exhibits the corporate’s Scope 3 greenhouse gasoline emissions — indirect emissions that happen because of an organization’s actions, together with these produced by clients utilizing its merchandise— elevated from about 471,100 tonnes in 2020 to 847,400 tonnes in 2022. Lululemon wrote in its report that this space “needs acceleration.”
The firm additionally wrote in 2020 that it “leaned into investments and partnerships to develop sustainable materials that demonstrate our leadership in product innovation and environmental harm reduction.”
A spokesperson for Lululemon mentioned the corporate is conscious of the “review” by the Competition Bureau and that it’s “committed to co-operating on any next steps.”
“We are confident that its review will confirm that the representations we make to the public are accurate and well-supported,” the spokesperson mentioned within the assertion to CBC News on Monday.
‘Not about making an attempt to punish’
Last 12 months, Lululemon partnered with a startup to create garments from recycled nylon and polyester. But the report from Stand.earth says lots of the firm’s products proceed to be made with polyester or nylon, each of that are supplies manufactured from fossil fuels.
“We would like to create a win-win solution with Lululemon to see them really target and eliminate the climate pollution in their supply chain,” Todd Paglia, government director of Stand.earth, instructed CBC News.
“If they did, we would drop our Competition Bureau complaint. This is about results, not about trying to punish Lululemon.”
Under Section 9 of the Competition Act, any six Canadian residents who imagine that an organization is violating the act can apply to the bureau commissioner to launch an investigation.
Paglia beforehand known as out Lululemon for greenwashing, a time period used to explain when corporations, governments or people mislead others on their environmental apply or environmental advantages.
No authorized obligation
Anika Kozlowski, an assistant professor of style design, ethics and sustainability at Toronto Metropolitan University, says there is authorized recourse if the bureau determines that Lululemon is greenwashing.
“But in terms of companies actually having to fulfil these promises, there’s really no legal obligation on their end, as often these are just voluntary,” she mentioned.
Lululemon is not the lone style retailer navigating these points, Kozlowski says; it is an industry-wide downside.
“When you look at what the root cause is, it’s just endless production and the type of materials that we’re using,” she mentioned, referring to petroleum-based artificial materials specifically.
“Even if we did it sustainably, there’s still going to be impact if we’re doing it at the volume that these companies are doing it.”
She says if the Competition Bureau finds that Lululemon makes use of misleading advertising, it “will just help clear the waters for consumers, if they are trying to shop better, [so] that they understand a bit more what they’re buying.
Do you ever see companies using terms like “sustainable” or “eco-friendly?” It could be a clue that they are doing something called greenwashing.
Speaking with CBC News outside of a Lululemon store in Toronto, Gracie Valentine said that greenwashing is “fairly massive these days, sadly.”
“Companies are just about simply allowed to say no matter, so it is exhausting to even know which of them to buy at now,” Valentine said.
Shavana Kunj, who was window-shopping with Valentine, said that company executives should be held responsible for a brand’s business practices — not the shoppers who buy their products.
“I’m sporting Lululemon proper now. It sucks, however I’m nonetheless going to buy on the locations that I like,” Kunj said.
A spokesperson for Lululemon previously told CBC News the company is focused on helping create an industry that is “extra sustainable and addresses the intense impacts of local weather change.”
The company is committed to its decarbonization plan, the spokesperson added, with the aim of meeting its 2030 climate targets and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
“We acknowledge that almost all of impression comes from emissions throughout the broader provide chain,” the spokesperson wrote, including that the corporate reported by itself emissions within the 2022 annual report.