How the FCA’s anti-greenwashing rule will impact your corporate website

In the blog we look at the new UK anti-greenwashing rule and its impact, as well as the effect this will have on corporate websites. 

What is the anti-greenwashing rule? 

The anti-greenwashing rule has been introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (as part of its Policy Statement on Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and investment labels (PS23/16)) on 31 May 2024 with the aim to rectify the current issue in the market in which firms are making sustainability-related claims about their products and services that may be exaggerated, misleading and unsubstantiated.

The goal of the FCA is to protect stakeholder audiences against greenwashing by creating a level playing field for firms in an evolving market. Cracking down on greenwashing, the new rule empowers stakeholders to trust sustainability claims and fosters market confidence by ensuring firms make them fair, clear and accurate. This rule also allows the FCA to challenge firms they consider to be making misleading claims and, if appropriate, take further action.

How will greenwashing affect corporate websites? 

When enforcing the new anti-greenwashing rule, companies are likely to focus on the annual report, supplementary reports and customer-facing websites when updating sustainability-related claims, but it’s important to ensure these references are also updated on the corporate website.

How to ensure your corporate website complies with anti-greenwashing regulations

Below, we have provided a summary of the FCA’s finalised guidance on anti-greenwashing. We encapsulate the principles of the rule that companies need to follow and identify the companies that are captured by this new ruling. 

It’s worth noting that, despite the FCA pushing back the SDR Sustainable fund labelling rules to 2 April 2025, the anti-greenwashing rule is not impacted by the delays. The FCA expects firms to comply with the naming and marketing rules as soon as they can, instead of waiting until the new deadline. 

The anti-greenwashing rule requires firms to ensure that all references to the sustainability characteristics of a product are consistent, fair, clear and not misleading. These references are present in (but not limited to) statements, assertions, targets, policies, information and images relating to a product or service.
The principles of the rule set out that all sustainability references should be: 

• correct and capable of being substantiated;
• clear and presented in a way that can be understood;
• complete – they should not omit or hide important information and should consider the full life cycle of the product or service; and
• comparisons to other products or services should be fair and meaningful 

For each of these core principles, the guidance explains in detail what each of these principles require as well as providing examples of what this would mean in practice. 

Who is in scope? 

The anti-greenwashing rule applies to firms that communicate with clients in the UK or communicate any financial promotion in the UK.

• This rule applies to financial products and services which FCA-authorised firms make available for clients in the UK. 
• The audience can include existing or prospective clients, customers, consumers or businesses.
• This rule complements, and is consistent with, other rules laid out by the FCA (for example, in the FCA’s Handbook) and is not intended as a substitute for, or an override of, any other rules. These rules should also compliment other rules such as Consumer Duty, CMA and ASA’s guidance and FCA Principles 6 and 7.

How to review sustainability claims on your corporate website in 5  steps

We’ve summarised below the key elements to focus on when reviewing the sustainability-related content of your corporate website: 

1. Follow the principle-based guidance on how sustainability should be referenced on the website. When updating your communications to account for these principles, ensure the content on the website follows this criteria  and matches other promotional material.
2. Ensure that any references to sustainability characteristics on your website are consistent with the claims in your client communications. 
3. When reviewing the sustainability content on your website, ensure the general statements and product and service literature on the website are backed up with sufficient evidence to rationalise the disclosure.
4. To help identify areas on the website in which sustainability references would be present, look for these references in the statements, assertions, targets, policies and information relating to a product or service on the website. 
5. When it comes to the images used on the website, be aware of the overall impression a visual presentation of a claim can create. Ensure the images, logos and colours used on the website reflect the claims accurately.  

Conclusion

There is still time needed to see how the FCA’s anti-greenwashing rules work in practice to assess their effectiveness, but the hope is that it will improve trust with stakeholders on the legitimacy of sustainability claims and subsequently shape a more accountable and sustainable financial landscape, guided by clearer regulatory expectations and enhanced market confidence.

Need help?

Navigating compliance with the FCA's anti-greenwashing rule and ensuring your corporate website reflects accurate sustainability claims can be complex. At DP, we specialise in building websites while  also providing creative and consultancy-integrated approaches.

Our digital experts offer expert guidance to integrate clear, substantiated sustainability disclosures on your website. 

Leveraging our integrated approach in creative website design and consultancy, we offer tailored strategies for integrating clear, substantiated sustainability disclosures that build stakeholder trust.

Contact us today to see how we can help you.

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