Research to stop corporate greenwashing
Photo by Kawica Stewart
Greenwashing is communication that misleads people into adopting overly positive beliefs about an organization’s environmental performance, practices, or products.
Source: Lyon and Montgomery, 2015
Greenwash Action Lab exists to provide academic research to support anti-greenwashing efforts.
Meet our Researchers
Hi, I’m Wren Montgomery!
I’m a professor at Ivey Business School at Western University, with a deep commitment to helping make the corporate world more sustainable. My mom was an activist and a journalist with CBC, so impact is in my blood. I’m currently co-leader of the Impact Scholar Community within the Academy of Management.
I started my career with an MBA, then worked in policy for years. (I even helped get environmental issues on the political radar in British Columbia.) I went back to school to earn my PhD at Queen’s University, and I have been publishing academic research to help stop greenwashing and increase social equity since 2012.
Hi, I’m Tom Lyon!
I’m a professor at the Ross School of Business and the School for Environment and Sustainability at University of Michigan. I studied economics at Princeton and Stanford. Now, I use economic analysis to better understand greenwashing and other corporate sustainability issues.
Interestingly, I didn’t start researching corporate deception until nearly 15 years into my career. One day, while browsing in a bookstore, I was drawn to a short book about the public relations industry. After reading it, I couldn’t believe their tactics weren’t being researched in economics. So, I wrote a paper about "astroturf lobbying," which led to a stream of research that includes ongoing work on greenwash and science denialism.
Our research is featured in:The Globe and Mail
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Bloomberg
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CBC
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Fortune
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The Conversation
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The Guardian
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Financial Post
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Global News
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The Globe and Mail • Bloomberg • CBC • Fortune • The Conversation • The Guardian • Financial Post • Global News •
Research and Media
Featured Knowledge
This brief summarizes recent research to identify and investigate the evolution of the greenwashing phenomenon. Find out how greenwashing can be identified and avoided and learn about emerging concepts such as “future-washing”.
On The News
Watch a recent episode of CBC Marketplace, featuring Wren Montgomery, that digs into some of the biggest fashion brands and their ‘eco-friendly’ claims. Wren brings CBC into the classroom to investigate, with the help of MBA students from the Ivey Business School.
Award-Winning Research
Wren Montgomery, Tom Lyon, and Julian Barg have been awarded the 2024 ONE-SIM Outreach Award which recognizes researchers who’ve done an excellent job reaching non-academic audiences for their paper entitled No end in sight? A greenwash review and research agenda.
Most Recent
Who We Help
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The media is educating the world on greenwashing. We can help you add an evidence-base to your stories.
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Non-profit leaders are fighting greenwashing in court. We’ll give you research to support your case.
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Regulators are making policy to stop greenwashing. We can help you understand policy best practices.
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Many businesses are truly trying to make the world better. We can help you compete against greenwashers and be a model for change in your industry.
How We Help
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Conducting and disseminating research to inform public discussion and debate
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Informing the public about greenwashing through mainstream media
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Breaking down commonly used terms and practices
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Sharing tools we've co-created to prevent greenwashing