ASA - Advertising Standards Authority

Download a PDF version of this guidance note here: Guidance Note on Environmental Advertising.

This Guidance Note is to be read alongside the Advertising Codes.

Note: This information is not legal advice, and it does not bind the Complaints or Appeal Boards.

Objective

This Guidance Note is intended to assist industry and consumers with the interpretation of the ASA rules surrounding environmental claims in advertising. These rules require advertising to be socially responsible and not misleading.

Advertisers should also be aware of relevant environmental claims guidelines published by the Commerce Commission.

What is an Environmental Claim?

Under the Advertising Standards Code Rule 2 (h) guidelines, an “environmental claim” means any statement, symbol or graphic that indicates an environmental aspect of a service, product, component or packaging. This includes references to sustainability, recycling, carbon neutrality, energy efficiency, use of natural products, or impact on animals and the natural environment.

This could include claims a product:

Has environmental benefits
Has limited or no negative environmental impact
Is comparably less damaging to the environment than a previous version
Is less damaging to the environment than competing goods or services

Key Rules in the Advertising Codes

Environmental Claims

Under Rule 2 (h) of the Advertising Standards Code, environmental claims must be accurate and able to be substantiated by evidence that reflects scientific and technological developments.

Guidelines:

The environment includes ecosystems and their constituent parts, including people and communities, natural and physical resources, and the qualities and characteristics of locations, places and areas.
An “environmental claim” means any statement, symbol or graphic that indicates an environmental aspect of a service, product, component or packaging, and includes references to sustainability, recycling, carbon neutrality, energy efficiency, use of natural products or impact on animals and the natural environment.
Absolute environmental claims will be assessed on the complete life cycle of the product and its packaging, taking into account any effects on the environment of its manufacture, distribution, use, disposal, etc. Examples include: environmentally friendly / safe / kind.
Qualified claims such as “environmentally friendlier / safer / kinder” require an ability to prove a meaningful environmental advantage over competitors or a meaningful improvement on previous formulations, components, packaging, or method of manufacture or operation.
Environmental benefit claims must be genuine and must meet relevant local or international standards as appropriate, such as ‘biodegradable’ and ‘organic’.
Environmental claims based on the absence of a harmful chemical or damaging effect are not acceptable if no other products in the category include the chemical or cause the effect.

Misleading Claims

Truthful presentation is a core principle throughout the ASA Codes.

PRINCIPLE 2: TRUTHFUL PRESENTATION

Advertisements must be truthful, balanced and not misleading.

Along with the overarching principle, the Codes also include rules on truthful presentation. The main requirement is:

Advertising Standards Code Rule 2 (b) Truthful presentation

Advertisements must not mislead or be likely to mislead, deceive or confuse consumers, abuse their trust or exploit their lack of knowledge. This includes by implication, inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, unrealistic claim, omission, false representation or otherwise.

Obvious hyperbole identifiable as such is not considered to be misleading.

See our Guidance Note on Misleading Claims and Responding to Complaints for more information on misleading claims.

Social Responsibility

Social responsibility is a core principle throughout the ASA Codes.

PRINCIPLE 1: SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Advertisements must be prepared and placed with a due sense of social responsibility to consumers and to society.

Rule 1 (i) refers specifically to protecting the environment:

Advertisements must not depict or encourage environmental damage or degradation.

Care must be taken when areas of significant conservation value are featured in an advertisement. These include, but are not limited to, beaches, dunes, riverbeds, wetlands, tussock lands, lake margins, or estuaries.

While the guideline focuses on areas of significant conservation value that require additional care, the rule could be applied to a wider range of advertising.

The following are examples that could breach the Code:

Depicting or encouraging consumers to disregard the harmful environmental impact of their actions
Encouraging or condoning littering or non-recycling of recyclable packaging
Trivialising consumer behaviour that is likely to result in harmful pollution or excessive waste

Showing potentially harmful behaviour in the context of demonstrating what not to do may be acceptable if the advertisement makes it clear the behaviour is not okay.

Key Points for Environmental Claims in Advertising

Truthful and accurate: Claims must be truthful, accurate and clear
Substantiation: Advertisers must hold quality evidence to support the claim before making it
Complete life cycle: Absolute or general claims must relate to the complete product life cycle
Genuine benefit: Any claimed benefits must be legitimate

Truthful and Accurate

Environmental claims in advertising must be both truthful and accurate. Vague or unclear claims can lead to misunderstandings, so it may be necessary to explain the meaning of certain claims or include specific points to ensure they are understood.

Audience Understanding

Advertisers should consider how consumers interpret their claims. While awareness of environmental issues is growing, it’s important not to overestimate the audience’s knowledge, especially in advertising that is not targeted.

Clear Language

Scientific terms should be presented in an easily understandable manner for the target consumer. If complex language is used, additional information should be provided through accessible means, such as website links or QR codes. Scientific claims can often come with qualifiers, and they should be clear in your advertising.

Avoiding Misleading Impressions

Advertisers must not use environmental symbols and signs that could wrongly suggest official endorsement or third-party certification.

Scientific Validity

When the scientific foundation for a claim is questionable or disputed, it should not be presented as universally accepted.

Omission of Information

Omissions in advertising can lead to confusion. Examples include:

Claims that do not make clear if an environmental benefit arises only from specific actions or behavioural changes.
Claims that imply an environmental aspect of a product, such as the recyclability of the packaging, relates to the whole product.
References to standards without adequate context for audience understanding.
Environmental symbols that lack clarity for their source or meaning.

Consumer Context

If a claim is only accurate under certain conditions or is dependent on actions taken by the consumer, this must be clearly communicated in the advertisement. It should also be clear whether the claim relates to the entire product, a component, packaging, or a specific manufacturing method.

It doesn’t matter if an ad was not intended to mislead. If the ad is considered by the Complaints Board as likely to mislead, deceive or confuse the consumer, it will be in breach of the Code. The ASA Complaints Board will evaluate claims based on what the average consumer would take away from the whole ad, not just a specific claim, so keep things truthful and crystal clear.

Substantiation

Advertisers must have sufficient evidence to back up their environmental claims.

Absolute or Express Claims

Express or absolute claims make a specific, verifiable claim, for example “Scientific studies prove…”, or “100% biodegradable”. They require a full level of substantiation which means holding, at a minimum, the advertised level of substantiation. For example, if you say, “Scientific studies prove…”, then you must have the scientific studies that prove the claim.

Absolute claims are evaluated on the entire product life cycle, including manufacture, distribution, use, and disposal.

Terms like “environmentally friendly,” “sustainable,” or “green” suggest a net-positive environmental impact. Advertisers should avoid such claims unless they have robust evidence to support them.

Implied or Indirect Claims

Indirect or implied claims need substantiation that shows you have a reasonable basis for making the claim. Examples of these claims include the use of environmental imagery or words such as “green” or “eco” that create an impression of a product that is friendlier to the environment.

Comparative or Qualified Claims

Terms like “environmentally friendlier,” “safer for the oceans,” or “kinder to the planet” fall into this category. Advertisers must be ready to prove a meaningful environmental advantage over competitors or a meaningful improvement in the product life cycle.

Comparative claims should be based on the same methodology and compare the same aspects. If you are qualifying the claim, you must make that qualification clear and easily understood.

Relevant Consumer Conditions

Tests and statistics supporting environmental claims should reflect conditions that consumers are likely to encounter, ensuring reliable scientific backing for the claims. As an example, there may be certain conditions where a plastic bag may biodegrade or compost, but those conditions don’t exist or are not readily available to New Zealand consumers.

Future Commitments

When making specific environmental commitments—especially those aspirational in nature, like “net zero” or “carbon negative”—advertisers must be able to demonstrate their capability and methodology to achieve these goals within the stated timeframe.

Environmental Certifications

Certifications should be directly relevant to the claims being made. Even with certification, misleading claims can still arise, so care should be taken to avoid using symbols or logos that resemble official certifications, as this can mislead consumers about independent approval.

Regularly review and update claims made on websites and packaging to maintain accuracy.

Certifications can become outdated over time, and certification bodies typically require ongoing assessments to ensure proper use of their marks. Some organisations may require prior approval for advertising with their certifications.

The Sustainable Business Network lists certifications that demonstrate independent verification of environmental commitments to sustainability.

Complete Life Cycle

Absolute claims are generally understood to cover the entire life cycle of a product—from production to disposal. For example, phrases like “environmentally friendly” imply responsibility at every stage.

Advertisers should only use these broad claims if they can substantiate them across the full life cycle. If evidence cannot be provided, the limitations of the claim must be clear. More specific claims may be acceptable, such as a claim about the recyclability of packaging, provided the ad specifies what the claim relates to. Advertisements must not mislead consumers about the overall environmental impact.

Genuine Benefits

Any benefit must be genuine and it’s important not to overstate an environmental benefit or understate an environmental harm. Any claims must meet local or international standards as appropriate, such as “biodegradable,” or “organic.”

Advertisers must not mislead consumers by highlighting the positive impact of insignificant aspects, particularly where the overall impact of the lifecycle is negative.

When businesses are responsible for substantial harmful emissions, ads mentioning environmental initiatives can mislead if they don’t address the company’s overall contribution to environmental harm. This is crucial in sectors where consumer awareness of emissions is low, potentially giving a misleading impression of the company’s environmental impact.

If a product has never had a clearly adverse effect on the environment, advertising must not imply that the formulation has changed to improve it in the way claimed. However, advertisers may claim that a product has always been designed in a way that omits an ingredient or process known to harm the environment.

The Role of the Complaints Board

Advertisements are assessed on the overall impression they are likely to give consumers – as well as specific claims and images. Advertisers should consider the likely interpretation of the whole ad, rather than individual parts of it. If an advertisement is part of a wider campaign, the ad will be considered on its own merits as consumers may not see the whole campaign.

When a complaint is received, the Chair of the Complaints Board will assess whether there is a possible breach of a Code. If the Chair accepts the complaint, the ASA will request a response from the advertiser, and if relevant, the advertising agency and media companies. The Complaints Board considers the complaint and all the responses. If the complaint is upheld, the advertiser is asked to remove or amend the advertisement. The compliance rate with these requests is between 96-99%.

While the Complaints Board is not an arbiter of scientific fact, it will make an assessment as to whether the evidence applies to and supports the advertised claim.

More information on the complaints process and responding to a complaint is available on our website.

PLEASE NOTE: CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION / SUBSTANTIATION

The Complaints Board is NOT able to accept or consider any material which is marked as “Confidential” as all information provided is included in our publicly released Decisions. In exceptional circumstances (usually involving proprietary information) precedent is in place to allow the Complaints Board to accept confidential information by way of third-party affidavit. An acceptable third-party affidavit confirming the confidential information held by the advertiser is likely to be sufficient evidence to substantiate the claim being made in the advertisement.

FURTHER ASSISTANCE

The ASA is available to provide advice and assistance about the complaints process.