Green may be the new black for companies anxious to be seen as environmentally friendly, but many Irish organisations are exaggerating their planet-saving credentials, according to advertising authorities.

The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) will attend a summit of European advertising regulators in

Slovakia next month to discuss the growing problem of “greenwashing”, or organisations making exaggerated claims about their green practices or products.

Frank Goodman, ASAI’s chief executive, said that greenwashing was a growing problem and that it planned to take action against Irish companies that make outlandish claims that can’t be verified. “We have concerns about some of the claims being made,” said Goodman. “You are not allowed to say your product is good for the environment unless you can prove this. Our code is very specific on this point.”

Some Irish companies have been criticised for using terms such as “carbon neutral” in advertising. They have also been accused of spending money on uncertified carbon credits to offset their pollution, instead of making genuine efforts to reduce the damage they do to the environment.

“The phrase ‘carbon neutral’ is being tainted by the sheer number of companies who use it in their advertising after buying credits, without making any effort to reduce their emissions,” said Conor O’Riain, a director of Ecocem, a cement manufacturer whose product is three times less environmentally damaging than ordinary cement.

The carbon bandwagon has now extended to sporting organisations. The GAA recently announced that Croke Park would become the world’s first carbon-neutral stadium, meaning that its net carbon emissions would have to be zero.

Leinster rugby authorities last week declared that its fixture against Australia’s Queensland Reds in Donnybrook was the world’s first carbon-neutral rugby match. Leinster played in specially commissioned green jerseys and the team walked to Donnybrook. The green theme was enhanced by an offsetting deal between the club and Ecocem, which sold offsets to cover Queensland’s flights to Ireland. Leinster and Ecocem offset varying amounts of carbon for every try, drop goal and conversion.

Businesses are also attaching themselves to the carbon publicity drive. KPMG Ireland claimed it had become the country’s first carbon-neutral accounting practice last year, largely through the purchase of carbon credits.

Credits are bought when a company measures its carbon emissions and then pays money towards a compensating green scheme such as tree planting.

“The problem is that many carbon credit schemes are not validated or regulated by anyone,” said O’Riain. Ecocem has signed up to a voluntary carbon credit scheme which has strict auditing rules.

The credits Ecocem earns by producing green cement — measured by how green it is compared to ordinary cement — can be sold to other Irish companies who use them to offset emissions.

The KPMG credits were bought from projects overseen by the Carbon Neutral Company (CNC), a British firm criticised in 2005 after it was paid by Coldplay, the rock group, to plant 10,000 mango trees in India to offset the emissions from the production of the album A Rush of Blood to the Head. It emerged that most of the trees died shortly after being planted while local villagers complained they had received scant support from CNC to run the project.

O’Riain says that Ecocem insists its customers first make an effort to reduce emissions before it will sell them credits. “Companies should only offset emissions that are unavoid-able,” he said.

John Curran, the environmental executive for Musgrave Group, which owns the SuperValu and Centra retail brands and has won awards for its green practices, said that some Irish companies are too quick to buy credits instead of reducing emissions. He claims the use of “carbon neutral” in advertising can be “misleading”.

“Companies should be careful when they use terms like that,” he said. “The average customer gets confused. Saying you are carbon neutral clouds things. It’s easy to make the claim, but it is almost impossible to really be carbon neutral.

“We buy credits to offset some emissions that we just can’t eliminate, but we would never claim to be carbon neutral. Low carbon is the best you can aim for. But once PR gets a hold of things, being seen as green can turn into a crusade for some companies.”

The ASAI recently adjudicated on six cases of alleged greenwashing by Irish firms, and upheld four of the complaints, all against car manufacturers who claimed their vehicles were kind to the environment.

“We’re not waiting for complaints to come in,” said Goodman. “We are being proactive in investigating companies’ green claims.”

Times Recommends

• Rio Tinto four held as China prepares case
• Diplomats must keep heads down and trousers up
• When in Rome should one make like Berlusconi?