Greenwashing TeshSprint

One of the key areas of focus for the GFIN has been to explore the concept of cross border testing (CBT). This is also known as the ‘global sandbox’. It creates an environment that allows firms to consecutively or concurrently trial and scale new technologies, products, or business models in multiple jurisdictions.  

The use of innovative technologies in financial services has the potential to improve access to financial services, improve safety concerns and support regulator’s overall goal to protect consumers from harm.  

The GFIN Greenwashing TechSprint

The GFIN launched its first ever virtual greenwashing TechSprint in June 2023. This was hosted on the UK FCA Digital Sandbox, with the purpose of bringing together international regulators, firms, and innovators as a collective priority. The aim was to address a GFIN priority on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) by developing a tool or solution that could help regulators or the market more effectively tackle or mitigate the risks of greenwashing in financial services. 

A total of 15 international regulators participated:

Why has GFIN identified this focus area?  

The potential risks in the ESG space have been around the issue of greenwashing. As the demand for ESG-related products and services continues to grow, so does the risk of financial services firms potentially overstating their sustainability credentials to attract and retain customers and investors, whether done inadvertently or deliberately.     

In protecting against greenwashing, we want to ensure that consumers have access to ‘green’ or sustainable financial products and services that meet their needs and/or preferences. Greenwashing is a form of mis-selling, which may be deliberate or inadvertent. 

The objective here is to protect consumers and promote a fair and reliable portfolio of sustainable financial services.  

Successful applications for Problem Statement 1: How can technology, including AI and machine learning, enable regulators/supervisors to verify that ESG/sustainability-related product claims to retail consumers are accurate and complete.   

Organisations:

  • Legal-Pythia LLP

  • GaiaLens

  • Torc Partners Limited

  • Sc ventures-HUMA

  • ICAG Partners

  • ImpactScope

  • Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc.

Successful applications for Problem Statement 2: How can technology help to monitor, collate and identify examples of greenwashing from financial services firms’ websites, social media platforms and other documentation or data which can also be shared across jurisdictions. 

Organisations:

  • Permutable AI

  • PlanDail

  • Fidata

  • SKFH

  • King's College London

  • Neotas Limited

GFIN Greenwashing Techsprint Showcase Day

On the 20th September 2023, the FCA hosted the first GFIN Greenwashing TechSprint Showcase day. This was an opportunity for participating firms and regulators to showcase their solutions to a panel of judges, comprised of industry experts, subject matter professionals and innovators. They included: Chryssi Chorafa, Ghela Boskovich, Jo Ann Barefoot and Steve Cracknell.  

The 13 participating firms and 15 regulators have been working together for three months to develop a tool or solution that could help regulators, or the market, more effectively tackle or mitigate the risks of greenwashing in financial services. 

For those in attendance, some of the feedback received from the day include the following: that the event provided “ground-breaking” initiatives within the field of ESG and sustainable finance, some of which were promising in taking positive steps to eliminate greenwashing across jurisdictions. 

Speaking at the event, the FCA’s Chief Data, Information and Intelligence Officer, Jessica Rusu, said:

“Both the FCA as a regulator and the GFIN network want to ensure that consumers have access to genuinely sustainable financial products that meet their needs or preferences. This TechSprint is the first of its kind and I’m very excited at the use of social media data, web-scraping techniques, and AI methods that have been leveraged by the teams.”

The solutions support IOSCO’s ambition of building trust through high standards of behaviour and calling out greenwashing and Rodrigo Buenaventura, Chair of IOSCO’s Sustainable Finance Task Force gave a keynote address. He is quoted as saying he was looking forward to seeing the solutions effectively implemented, noting that greenwashing is seen by many organisations and IOSCO as a high priority. The use of technology to develop digital solutions to transition to a sustainable future is key in reaching net zero carbon emissions applicable for all jurisdictions.

Insg AI were a key contributor to this global TechSprint. Steve Cracknell, Founder and Chief Product Officer, Insig AI noted that “It has been highly rewarding collaborating with the FCA on this global initiative, and to see our data used by so many innovative approaches to solve the challenge that regulators face around greenwashing.”

The judges determined the winners based on the following categories:

The winners for Problem Statement 1:

  • The Eureka Solution - Impact Scope (Estonia) - An AI powered tool to detect potential greenwashing in the products of financial services companies.

  • The Jump Solution - ICAG Partners (UK) – An internationally validated, standardised and taxonomised methodology that can be used to independently assess and verify all major Green Finance programme across the globe against potential greenwashing risks.

  • The Globe Trotter & The Fast Solution –  GaiaLens (UK) - A sustainability benchmark to assess if ESG products are scoring higher or lower than the benchmark and flag areas where there may be risks of violating ESG claims.

 The winners for Problem Statement 2:

  • The Fast Solution – Neotas LTD (UK) – A solution that uses open-source intelligence and natural language processing to identify greenwashing by public and private companies.

  • The Eureka Solution - Kings College London (UK) – A solution which uses text analysis and machine learning methods to enable the comparison of discretionary ESG disclosures with fundamentals-based disclosures.

  • The Jump Solution: FiData (UK) – A solution using algorithms and web technology to identify and correct wrong or exaggerated impact statements and impact reports for green or sustainable bond and loans.

  • The Globe Trotter: SKFH (Taiwan) – A website to provide investors with the ability to search for companies or Stock Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) compositions and gain a deeper understanding of their sustainability-related information. 

Next Steps:

The participating firms and regulators will retain their access to the Digital Sandbox to keep iterating and collaborating on their solutions.

We look forward to seeing successful solutions taken forward and being able to effectively mitigate the risks of greenwashing in financial services. 

GFIN definition of greenwashing and problem statements

The GFIN has an agreed definition of greenwashing: ‘greenwashing is ‘marketing that portrays an organisation’s products, activities or policies as producing positive environmental or social outcomes, or avoiding environmental or social harm, when this is not the case.’ 

Problem statements enable participants to focus on the problem that requires solving. Its aim is to provide a targeted view during collaborative work on what the programme is trying to solve. For this TechSprint, the GFIN has developed two problem statements:

Problem Statement 01 - How can technology, including AI and machine learning, enable regulators/supervisors to verify that ESG/sustainability-related product claims to retail consumers are accurate and complete.   

Problem Statement 02 - How can technology help to monitor, collate and identify examples of greenwashing from financial services firms’ websites, social media platforms and other documentation or data which can also be shared across jurisdictions. 

The spirit of the event

· Collaboration 

This Greenwashing TechSprint was an open event, bringing together a range of industry participants and stakeholders. Participants were open to working with other participants. 

· Logistics 

The event was run as a virtual event – there was no need to travel or make accommodation arrangements.

· Intellectual property 

The Greenwashing TechSprint was an ideation event, and we asked that participatants take part as collaborative inventors. Participation means engaging in the spirit of the event by sharing knowledge and collaborating with other participants. 

Any queries about the Greenwashing Techsprint can be sent to the UK FCA GFIN central mailbox GFIN@fca.org.uk   

List of Regulators

  • Financial Services Commission, Mauritius

  • Malta Financial Services Authority

  • SEC Philippines

  • Central Bank of Italy

  • The Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission

  • SFC Colombia

  • International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), India

  • UK FCA

  • Dubai Financial Services Authority

  • Central Bank of Bahrain

  • National Bank of Ukraine (NBU)

  • The World Bank

  • Central Bank of Georgia