Unmasking Greenwashing: Strengthening Nigeria's Legal Framework for a Sustainable Green Economy

Abstract

A green economy enhances human well-being and social equity while substantially reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. In such an economy, growth in income and employment stems from public and private investments aimed at reducing carbon emissions and pollution, improving energy and resource efficiency, and preventing biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. Nigeria's pursuit of a sustainable future through a green economy holds significant promise. However, this potential is undermined by greenwashing—the deceptive practice of marketing products or activities as environmentally friendly when they are not. This study critically evaluates Nigeria's legal framework to assess its efficacy in fostering transparency, accountability, and genuine environmental progress in the green economy. The study identifies a critical deficiency through an analysis grounded in corporate responsibility, consumer protection, and sustainable development theories: the lack of robust legal mechanisms exposes investors and consumers to misleading green claims, thereby hindering true sustainability. The findings underscore the urgent need for specific greenwashing legislation aligned with global best practices, as current regulations lack the clarity and enforcement needed to combat such deceptive claims effectively. The study concludes that Nigeria's green economy's credibility and growth remain in jeopardy without solid legal safeguards. It recommends establishing clear standards to build a trustworthy green economy that supports sustainable development.

Received: 13 September 2024 | Revised: 21 January 2025 | Accepted: 27 February 2025

Conflicts of Interest 

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement 

No additional data were created or analyzed in this study. All supporting data are contained within the footnotes and references.

Author Contribution Statement

Opeyemi Adewale Gbadegesin: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Visualization. Oyinkansola Simisola Komolafe: Conceptualization, Validation, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Visualization. Deborah Ayodele-Olajire: Methodology, Writing - original draft. Oluwatumininu Omotoye: Methodology, Validation, Data curation, Writing - original draft. Adeniyi Gbadegesin: Writing - original draft, Supervision.