Multinational athletic clothing giant Lululemon hit with French complaint over greenwashing

PARIS — Just days before Canadian athletes don the company’s apparel at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics, Lululemon is facing a new round of legal challenges as environmental advocacy organization Stand.earth files a first-of-its-kind French complaint against the fashion retailer for greenwashing its products.

Filed with the French Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) on July 24 with support from global law firm Hausfeld & Co LLP, the complaint seeks a rescission of Vancouver-headquartered Lululemon’s ‘Be Planet’ advertising campaign, and highlights the need for brands to make clear and accurate environmental claims that avoid exaggeration and outright lies.

“We are asking French officials to investigate how Lululemon can claim to ‘Be Planet’ while creating more planet-harming emissions every year than half a million cars,” Stand Executive Director Todd Paglia said. “Lululemon customers worldwide deserve to know the true impacts of the company’s climate pollution, not the greenwashed version it uses to sell products.”

In stark contrast to the company’s ‘Be Planet’ slogan, Lululemon’s Impact Report released in 2023 revealed another year of staggering growth in emissions – in fact, a 100% increase in climate pollution (see page 79) since deploying the slogan. The company also relies heavily on climate-damaging fossil fuels to make its products: More than 60% of the materials it uses are fossil fuel-derived (see page 55) – materials that contribute to climate pollution, cannot be effectively recycled, do not biodegrade, and release microplastics in the oceans and waterways.

“As the official kit provider of Team Canada at the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris, Lululemon will represent our nation in front of the whole world over the coming weeks,” Stand Senior Corporate Climate Campaigner Rachel Kitchin said. “Other Olympic kit sponsors are delivering renewable energy and emissions cuts, while Lululemon doubles down on climate pollution. Our athletes deserve to be at their absolute best in a brand that aligns with their values as Canadians, and not misled by deceptive and greenwashing marketing.”  

This complaint will mark the first test of the French Regulator’s readiness for a wave of new European legislation. The EU passed a new greenwashing directive in February of this year, and is developing a Green Claims Directive. This will require sustainability claims to be checked by an independent and accredited verifier, and will include new rules on governance of environmental labeling schemes to ensure they are solid, transparent and reliable. The DGCCRF, which regulates greenwashing claims in France, investigated more than 1,000 businesses regarding greenwashing in 2022, and found that one in four was in breach.

“As the climate crisis deepens, there is increased interest and enforcement of greenwash claims by major companies,” Paglia said. “For decades, companies have faced no consequences for deceptive practices aimed at misleading the public about their environmental and climate justice impacts. However, we’re now seeing a rising interest in holding these companies accountable for their claims, and a crackdown is beginning to happen from Europe to North America.”

The French action comes less than six months after Stand’s filing of a similar complaint against Lululemon in its home country of Canada in February, which resulted in the Competition Bureau Canada officially opening an inquiry in April to investigate concerns that the apparel company misleads customers about its environmental impact. In recent weeks, the company has faced ongoing increased scrutiny with demonstrations taking place across Canada, including outside Lululemon’s flagship store in Vancouver and at the Toronto Home of Team Canada building.

Click here for photos and videos of recent demonstrations leading up to Lululemon’s presence at Olympics

Lululemon is one of the world’s biggest fashion brands and most influential companies. Through its ‘Be Planet’ campaign, Lululemon presents itself as a company whose actions and products contribute to a healthier environment and planet. Although Lululemon has taken some actions and set some targets to reduce the harmful impact of its business operations and products, Stand’s position in its complaint is that Lululemon’s business is inconsistent with its public claims to be an environmentally positive company.

Increasingly, consumers’ concerns about the environment have inspired them to shop for their apparel products sustainably, purchase planet-friendly products, and avoid brands that sell products which contribute to climate change or the degradation of the planet. Nearly 50,000 community members have signed a letter asking Lululemon to quit coal and make its leggings and other apparel with clean, renewable energy.

“We are seeing increasing interest in combating greenwashing from NGOs and other stakeholders, such as investors, consumers and regulators,” said Simon Bishop, Partner at Hausfeld & Co LLP, which supported Stand in filing the complaint. “Demand for products and businesses which are sustainable and aligned with stakeholders’ values continues to rise, and this can incentivise companies to claim to be more ‘green’ than they actually are. If this happens, such companies should be alert to the risk of regulatory investigations and litigation.”

Lululemon scored a ‘C-’ in Stand’s 2023 Fossil Free Fashion Scorecard, which evaluated the company’s performance in taking steps to deploy renewable energy in its supply chain, how its climate targets stack up against others, its progress in transitioning from fossil-fuel based fabrics to low-carbon materials, and its actions to reduce fossil-fuel pollution from shipping.

Fashion is a multi-trillion dollar industry responsible for producing 2 to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and those emissions are expected to drastically increase by 2030. The industry’s manufacturing processes disproportionately rely on coal and other fossil fuels, undermining climate stability while also causing a devastating impact on the health of supply chain workers and their communities. A 2021 Harvard University study found that one in five deaths globally can be linked to air pollution caused by the burning of coal and other fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels enter the supply chain through synthetic fibres made from oil and fracked gas, the ongoing practice of burning coal for heat at garment factories, fashion manufacturers’ continued reliance on fossil fuels for electricity, and the heavy fuels required to transport their goods. Fashion companies transitioning their manufacturing to renewable energy is the most important change brands can make to their supply chains to cut emissions.

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Media contacts: 

Cari Barcas, cari.barcas@stand.earth (Eastern Time)
Shane Reese, shane.reese@stand.earth (Eastern Time)
Dave Walsh, europe@stand.earth (Central European Time)