Greenwashing: How to Spot It and What to Do Instead

I get asked this question so often it’s almost tiresome: “How do you know if a company is greenwashing?” The answer has nothing to do with a green logo or the word “sustainable” printed on packaging. It comes down to whether the company shows you numbers.

Three things I check first

One, claims without figures attached. “We are committed to protecting the environment” means nothing without a percentage, a baseline year, and a measurement method behind it. If an ESG report is all prose and no data tables, that’s the first red flag.

Two, a narrow reporting scope. A garment company might proudly point to its “low-carbon” factory while saying nothing about its raw materials — which is usually where most of the actual emissions sit. I often ask clients: are you measuring Scope 1, Scope 2, or Scope 3 too? The gap usually shows up right there.

Three, certifications with no clear issuer. There are a lot of “green” labels circulating in the Vietnamese market right now that no independent third party has actually verified. If a company can’t tell you who’s behind the certification, keep asking.

So what should companies do instead?

I tell clients to start small and be honest. One specific, measurable commitment — even something modest, like cutting single-use plastic by 10% over two years — is far more credible than a sweeping statement about a “sustainable future” with no timeline attached. International buyers and partners pick up on that difference fast now.

The truth is, greenwashing isn’t always deliberate deception. A lot of the Vietnamese businesses I work with genuinely want to get this right, they just lack the tools to measure and report properly. That’s part of why I built the OED assessment — to give companies a clear starting point instead of a guess.

By Nguyễn Ngân Sophie. First published on the Sustainability & Climate Coach blog.