A Meta-Indicator for the Assessment of Misleading Sustainability Claims

In order to address environmental and climate change in a sustainable manner, it is necessary for corporations to make commitments in accordance with sustainable principles, which can be communicated through the use of indicators. Many indicator-based sustainability assessments neglect the supply chain stages by reporting results with incomplete and misleading information. Indicators are sometimes manipulated to the benefit of companies, a strategy known as “greenwashing”. One method of misleading is to transfer the non-sustainable activities of one company to other related companies. With such practices, the question of how to measure sustainability remains unclear. This paper proposes and defines the sustainability meta-indicator (SmI) which can serve as a tool for the assessment of misleading sustainability claims. Its value depends on the sustainability indicators of the other collaborating companies where the company in question pays money, and the corresponding amount of paid money. The results of using SmI on synthetic data demonstrate that the proposed meta-indicator facilitates the evaluation of misleading sustainability claims. The aim of the SmI is to satisfy consumers’ need for information about the sustainability of a company’s products or services. In addition, it can be used as a communication mechanism to enhance the value of companies and support new partnerships and business strategies. For policymakers, this meta-indicator serves as a tool to support measures against misinformation and misleading consumers.