ESG Principles and Greenwashing: Legal Issues of Differentiation

The paper is devoted to the study of the problems of the relationship between ESG principles and such a negative phenomenon as greenwashing. It is noted that the emergence and widespread use of such potentially attractive concepts for investors and consumers as «sustainable development» and «green development» contribute to the spread of greenwashing, misleading consumers, experts, and even regulatory authorities. Currently, greenwashing has been studied in sufficient detail in modern science; its main methods, as well as ways to combat it, have been described in detail. The most comprehensive mechanism for combating greenwashing has been developed in agricultural legislation and legislation in the field of organic production. However, large companies that position themselves as environmentally responsible, declaring their commitment to ESG standards, continue to mislead consumers using the greenwashing mechanism. In order to create legal instruments to combat greenwashing, the paper analyzes the environmental ESG criterion, presented as a set of three main basic principles (the principle of conservation/prevention/avoidance, the principle of reuse/storage, the principle of substitution/compensation). Applying these principles as a standard of assessment for the environmental policies of any company producing products, performing various types of work or providing various services can sufficiently determine whether the company adheres to the ESG principles and criteria or whether it is using the greenwashing mechanism.

1. Abrosimova Yu. A., Bykova K. V., Bobreshova I. V. Ekologicheskiy marketing: osushchestvlenie «zelenykh» strategiy ili grinvoshing // Ekonomika ustoychivogo razvitiya. — 2021. — № 4 (48). — S. 240–243.

2. Agafonov V. B. Pravovoe obespechenie ekologicheskoy bezopasnosti i ratsionalnogo prirodopolzovaniya na osnove ESG-printsipov // Vestnik Universiteta imeni O.Е. Kutafina (MGYuA). — 2022. — № 5 (93). — S. 46–58. — DOI: 10.17803/2311-5998.2022.93.5.046-058. — EDN: TUFTYW.

3. Agafonov V. B. Ekologo-pravovoe obespechenie realizatsii pilotnogo proekta po sozdaniyu karbonovykh poligonov i karbonovykh ferm // Vestnik Universiteta imeni O.Е. Kutafina (MGYuA). — 2023. — № 3 (103). — S. 17–27. — DOI: 10.17803/2311-5998.2023.103.3.017-027. — EDN: VFQOAS.

4. Voronina N. P. Grinvoshing: pravovoy mekhanizm protivodeystviya // Vestnik Universiteta imeni O.Е. Kutafina (MGYuA). — 2023. — № 3. — S. 28–36. — DOI: 10.17803/2311-5998.2023.103.3.028-036.

5. Zakondyrin A. E., Lipina S. A. Ekologicheskie kontseptsii: sravnitelnyy analiz // Izvestiya Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo ekonomicheskogo universiteta. — 2022. — № 4 (136). — S. 7–14. — EDN: AENKJJ.

6. Zelenaya ekonomika: upravlenie razvitiem. Strategiya i taktika / S. A. Lipina, E. V. Kudryashova, E. V. Agapova [i dr.]. — Arkhangelsk: Severnyy (Arkticheskiy) federalnyy universitet imeni M.V.Lomonosova, 2022. — 264 s. — ISBN: 978-5-261-01570-3. — EDN: WUACAH.

7. Kozhevina O. V. Problemy grinvoshinga i nedobrosovestnoy kommercheskoy praktiki subektov predprinimatelstva v usloviyakh zelenoy ekonomiki // Konkurentnoe pravo. — 2022. — № 4. — S. 12–15. — DOI: 10.18572/2225-8302-2022-4-12-15.

8. Mazhorina M. V. ESG-printsipy v mezhdunarodnom biznese i «ustoychivye kontrakty» // Aktual’nye problemy rossijskogo prava. — 2021. — № 12. — S. 185–198. — DOI: 10.17803/1994-1471.2021.133.12.185-198.

9. Sokolova K. V. Ispolzovanie slov «eko», «bio», «organik» v tovarnykh znakakh: kollizii pravovogo regulirovaniya // Intellektualnaya sobstvennost. Promyshlennaya sobstvennost. — 2022. — № 5. — S. 49–56.