Conscious Collections, Unconscious Rivers: The Gap In India's Greenwashing Law
- IJLLR Journal
- 2 hours ago
- 1 min read
Anokhi Shweta Dwivedi, BA LLB, NLSIU, Bangalore
ABSTRACT
The true cost of fast fashion is now becoming apparent, which includes pink rivers, polluted reservoirs, and India alone produces roughly 7,800 kilotons of waste every year. The awareness about the cost of fast fashion and the environmental issues associated with it has led to increased greenwashing – a practice where companies sell products using their sustainability practices despite the lack of responsibility in their supply chains. This article will discuss some of India's efforts at combating greenwashing through legislation, focusing on the Consumer Protection Act 2019, the ASCI Environmental and Green Claims Guidelines 2024, and the CCPA Greenwashing Guidelines 2024. Although these policies represent a step forward for India, there are still major shortcomings in these laws, such as the dependence on complaints for enforcing penalties, which are not proportional to the profits generated by greenwashing. By contrasting these Indian guidelines to the AGEC law of France and the European Union's Green Claims Directive, this article concludes that proper greenwashing regulation needs to mandate supply chain transparency and enforce penalties according to profit.
