Which one of the following best describes the term "greenwashing"?

Answer: A. GREENWASHING is conveying a FALSE IMPRESSION that a company's products are eco-friendly and environmentally sound. GREENWASHING is a marketing/PR practice where a company: - Spends more resources on advertising itself as 'green' or 'sustainable' than on actually reducing environmental impact. - Uses vague terms like 'natural', 'eco-friendly', 'organic', 'green' without substantive evidence. - Highlights one minor green attribute to distract from larger environmental harms. - Makes false or unverifiable environmental claims on product labels. The term was coined by environmentalist Jay Westerveld in 1986 in the context of the hotel industry's 'reuse-your-towel-to-save-the-environment' notes that were really cost-saving measures dressed up as environmental ones. Examples: - Fossil fuel companies advertising their 'sustainability' while expanding oil extraction. - Fast-fashion brands launching small 'conscious collection' lines while the rest of production remains highly polluting. - Vague 'eco' labelling on plastic packaging. Distractors: (B) Non-inclusion of environmental costs in national accounts = absence of green accounting / lack of natural capital accounting. (C) Ignoring ecological consequences = environmental negligence, not greenwashing. (D) Mandatory environmental provisioning = green budgeting, not greenwashing. Source: UNEP / consumer protection literature; SEBI's BRSR framework introduced disclosure rules to combat greenwashing.