The survey “Is Your Company Ready to Fight Greenwashing?” was conducted to assess industry preparedness, reaching 74 companies across Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece.
The survey revealed that 88% of respondents are small businesses in the footwear industry, with 50% having a designated employee for social and environmental issues. Around 51% of companies comply with sustainability standards, primarily adopting ISO 14001 certification. However, only 43% use certified materials or produce certified products, indicating a lack of awareness about sustainable legislation. More than half (53%) are unfamiliar with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and 62% claim to be making sustainability claims despite these knowledge gaps.
It is essential to prepare companies for compliance with regulations, as a significant majority (73%) acknowledge greenwashing as an important issue. These companies recognise the need for training initiatives to address this challenge effectively. The insights from this research were crucial in developing the core curriculum for the upcoming training course tailored for businesses to be developed by the project VETting Green.