ESG Enforcement Tracker

In April 2024, the Canadian Competition Bureau announced that it had begun an investigation into allegations by non-profit group Stand.earth that sportswear company Lululemon had made false, misleading and/or unsubstantiated green claims.

Stand.earth’s complaint was submitted to the Competition Bureau in February 2024. It alleged that Lululemon’s business practices were inconsistent with its public claims to be an environmentally positive company. The complaint also argued that the company’s own reporting showed a substantial increase in carbon emissions and a heavy reliance on fossil fuels to make its products. In its investigation, the Competition Bureau will seek to determine the facts relating to these allegations.

This is one in a series of recent actions taken against Lululemon.

In July 2024, a class action was started in the Southern District Court in Florida arguing that Lululemon’s “Be Planet” marketing campaign was misleading and amounted to a “massive, global ‘greenwashing’ campaign”. In the same month, Stand.earth filed a complaint with the French General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control, raising similar greenwashing complaints about Lululemon’s “Be Planet” marketing campaign.