Systemic Sphere has just launched GreenProof Compliance, a new specialized service that supports organizations in validating, organizing and substantiating their environmental and ESG claims. Designed to respond to the growing regulatory scrutiny of sustainability communications, the service helps companies reduce the risk of greenwashing, safeguard compliance and strengthen the trust of their stakeholders, according to a press release.
According to the same source, the launch comes at a moment when sustainability has ceased to be merely a matter of commitment and has come to require proof. In Europe, Directive (EU) 2024/825 already prohibits generic or unsubstantiated environmental claims and strengthens the fight against greenwashing. In Portugal, these rules will be applied through regimes of unfair commercial practices, advertising, and environmental enforcement, obliging companies to support any claim with verifiable and consistent evidence.
The need for this response is evidenced by the European Commission’s own data. In a 2020 study cited by European institutions, 53.3% of 150 environmental claims analyzed were considered vague, misleading or unfounded. In a second assessment, conducted on 344 environmental claims, 42% raised substantive doubts about their veracity, 57.5% did not present enough information for a rigorous assessment and 37% resorted to generic expressions such as “green” or “friend of nature.”
Faced with this scenario, many organizations continue to communicate environmental commitments without internal processes that ensure consistency between what they claim and what they can actually demonstrate. The consequences can translate into reputational risks, regulatory non-compliance, loss of competitiveness, and a breakdown of trust among customers, investors and business partners.
Systemic Sphere GreenProof Compliance will help companies with dispersed claims, incomplete evidence and fragile documentation to validate, organize and substantiate their environmental claims, reducing the risk of greenwashing, non-compliance and loss of credibility. The objective of this innovative service is to diagnose greenwashing risks through auditing ESG claims, identifying risks and performing regulatory benchmarking.
Through this service it will also be possible to develop internal compliance procedures to ensure compliance and develop phrase guides for what to say and what not to say, as well as to train the communications and Marketing teams. The result is evidence-based communication, with sustainability claims that are credible, compliant and defensible, enabling organizations to reduce the risk of greenwashing, protect their reputation and reinforce market confidence.
“The market no longer evaluates only the ambition of companies in sustainability. Today it demands proof. Systemic Sphere GreenProof Compliance is born to help organizations communicate with rigor, transparency and trust, ensuring that every environmental claim is backed by technical evidence and prepared to respond to the growing scrutiny of regulators and the market,” says Alexandre Vieira de Almeida, General Manager of Systemic Sphere.
