Can we trust every green claim?
“Natural.” “Green.” “Climate neutral.” “Environmentally friendly.”
We encounter sustainability claims everywhere. But what do they actually tell us – and what evidence is behind them?
This is where another GreenComp competence becomes essential: critical thinking.
Critical thinking means questioning assumptions, assessing the quality of information, looking for evidence and being aware of misleading framing or bias. In the context of sustainability, greenwashing provides a particularly relevant example.
As part of our work in GATE, we are exploring how everyday examples can help adult learners develop this competence. A product advertisement or environmental claim can become the starting point for questions such as:
Who is making this claim? What evidence is provided? What information might be missing? Is the wording precise – or does it merely sound sustainable?
Critical thinking does not mean distrusting everything. It means learning to make better-informed judgements based on reliable evidence.
An increasingly important competence in a world full of information – and sustainability claims.
