Citizens Advice response to the CMA’s draft guidance on environmental claims on goods and services
We welcome the opportunity to respond to the CMA’s draft guidance on environmental claims on goods and services. The increased focus on sustainability and the transition to Net Zero means growing numbers of consumers are seeking to make a conscious environmental choice in what they buy. In the energy market, we have observed the proportion of consumers choosing a tariff due to it offering green energy more than doubling from 9% in Q1 2019 to 19% in Q1 2021 in our regular consumer perceptions tracking survey.
However, as our wider work around the needs of future energy consumers has revealed, for consumers to feel confident engaging, they require transparency around claims to be able to make an informed choice. The CMA’s draft guidance in this area should help bring welcome practical clarity for businesses to make this information available to consumers. However, we would welcome more information in future on how it is expected to be applied from an enforcement perspective, particularly where sectoral regulators and non-sectoral bodies take divergent approaches.