Ensuring Verifiable Green Claims in Tourism

16 November, 2024
NIëL DU TOIT - In an era where sustainability is paramount, the European Union is taking significant strides to ensure that companies making green claims provide verifiable, science-backed evidence1. This initiative is crucial for holding institutions accountable and ensuring that their contributions to greening and sustainability in tourism are genuine and reliable.

Understanding Greenwashing

Greenwashing occurs when a company or destination presents itself as sustainable through marketing and advertising, misleading customers into believing their practices are environmentally friendly, while in reality, they are harmful. This deceptive practice undermines genuine sustainability efforts and misleads consumers.

Key Allegations by Mr. Baptiste Carrierre-Pradal, Co-Founder of 2BPolicy

Mr. Baptiste Carrierre-Pradal, policy director of Sustainability has highlighted several critical points regarding greenwashing:

Prevalence of Greenwashing: Half of the sustainability claims by companies and certification schemes amount to greenwashing.
Avoiding Vague Claims: Companies must avoid vague overstatements and terms like "sustainable," as these can have different meanings in different contexts.
Clarity and Specificity: Claims should be easy to understand and specific, only making assertions that can be substantiated.
Science-Backed Evidence: Claims must be based on reliable, comparable, and verifiable information.
Focus on Results: The actual results of sustainability efforts are what count, not just the intentions behind them.

GST: Measure and Manage

As the Founder and CEO of Sustainable Tourism Management System (Pty) Ltd, trading as GST (Go Sustainable Tourism), I, Niël du Toit, would like to summarise our approach and how it aligns with these principles.

What is GST?

GST is a management method designed for entrepreneurs in the tourism stay industry who are committed to sustainability. Our approach encompasses four key pillars:

Conservation: Ethical utilisation of local resources to retain natural and cultural biodiversity.
Community: Involvement of locals in management and employment.
Customer: Guidelines for the visitor target market.
Company: Ensuring the profitability of the business.

Each pillar includes relevant questions reflecting management objectives, which are annually revised for statistical validity. Entrepreneurs manage their businesses according to these standards, and an assessor verifies the management standards using an internationally accepted audit format. Verification audits are conducted every second year.

The Value of Verification

Verification is a crucial part of our management method. It involves establishing facts in relation to proposed criteria in a questionnaire format, answering the question: "How do you know it actually happened?" For example, in a cookie factory, a manager reviews production records to confirm that the cookies were baked to the specified temperature. Similarly, in GST, we specify management criteria as a set of questions, and the assessor reviews the answers to confirm the actual facts.

Certification

If satisfied, the GST member’s factual standard of management is confirmed through a confidential report to the owner, a public management report, and a formal Certificate. The GST logo, certificate, and public report can be used for marketing, showcasing the business’s genuine commitment to sustainability.

By adhering to these rigorous standards, GST ensures that our members’ sustainability claims are credible, verifiable, and truly contribute to a greener future.