On Thursday, May 19th, the International Advertising Association will be hosing a fireside chat with Raelene Martin, the Head of Sustainability of the International Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Martin leads the ICC's work on sustainability policy in the context of the ICC's Commission on Environment and Energy. 

During the fireside chat, which I will be moderating, we'll be talking about the ICC's new Framework for Responsible Environmental Marketing Communications.  As governments and self-regulatory bodies around the world work to fight climate change, the ICC has taken the lead by updating its well-respected guidance on how to properly make green marketing claims.  With the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and others updating their own guidance, the ICC's views provide some important clues about what types of new rules and guidance to expect in coming months and years. 

As the ICC explains in the introduction to its guidance, "There is renewed interest in environmental marketing, particularly in the context of growing momentum on climate action globally, including collective efforts by governments and businesses to mitigate the threats of climate change."

We'll cover the key aspects of the ICC's guidance on environmental marketing as well as the recent updates to the guidelines.  We'll cover "sustainability," "carbon neutral," and "circularity" claims, how to talk about the use of renewable energy and materials, when a life cycle analysis is required, and many other topics.  

The event will be live-streamed on IAA's Youtube channel, as well as on Facebook and LinkedIn. No pre-registration is required. 

This fireside chat is part of a series of IAA fireside chats, produced with the support of the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance, about how government, NGOs, industry, and other stakeholders are working together to encourage the development of regulation that both protects consumers and creates an environment that allows businesses to thrive.  Check out our previous fireside chats with UNICEF, the Advertising Standards Council of India, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Ad Standards Canada, and the Federal Trade Commission.