More recognition for leaders in sustainability
Expertise:
The challenge
Sustainable has become an umbrella term that is both used and abused, blurring the distinction between real and false sustainability. The many labels – often commercial – contribute to this. Interface, the world’s largest developer and producer of modular flooring, has been a leader in sustainability for many years. The company wants to make an end to greenwashing by focussing on facts and results instead of fine words.
IvCB’s approach
An investigation among professional buyers was started concerning their knowledge of sustainability labels. The results confirmed the impression that buyers were deceived by these labels. Meetings were held with officials and politicians with the objective of making sustainability criteria a guiding factor. A coalition was formed with market parties with similar attitudes, which made its voice heard in the media and via a gathering in Nieuwspoort.
The result for the client
The meetings, the coalition. the media attention and the gathering put the subject on the agenda, and as a result several key opinion leaders expressed in the media their dislike of sustainability labels, including commercial ones. Policy-makers and politicians were more critical regarding the jungle of sustainability labels, with the result that leaders such as Interface have gained more recognition by the authorities when tendering.
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