How clear are recycling claims? Danone, Coca-Cola & Nestlé improve transparency after greenwashing complaints. Read more: #PackagingNews# #Greenwashing# #SustainablePackaging# #Recyclability# #PackagingRegulations# #CircularEconomy#

In the Oct. 8 edition of CRN Channel Essentials, @CRN Senior Associate Editor @WadeMillward explores the growing importance of being able to identify true AI experts in the channel, and a warning from an executive at a top 20 2026 CRN Solution Provider 500 company about “FDE greenwashing.” You can subscribe to get this week’s edition in your inbox here:

A Brave New Marketer in the AI Era: The Sustainability Challenge. Today’s marketers face a profound paradigm shift: the integration of sustainability communications powered by AI. Just as digital transformation revolutionized advertising, sustainability is the "new digital," but now, the AI era provides unprecedented tools and new responsibilities. With consumers increasingly prioritizing social and environmental impacts, marketing must evolve from surface-level messaging to radical transparency. In this brave new world, AI acts as both an amplifier and a lie detector. Consumers can instantly access automated fact-checking, meaning greenwashing or exaggerated eco-friendly claims will immediately be exposed, causing irreparable brand damage. According to iTrust Rating, marketers can no longer rely on vague promises or unofficial green logos. Instead, they must build campaigns rooted in undeniable facts and verifiable supply chain data. Fortunately, the AI era empowers marketers to meet this challenge. Advanced algorithms can track complex supply chain emissions, measure real-time carbon footprints, and analyze consumer sentiment with high precision. This data-driven approach allows brands to communicate their sustainability journey authentically. You do not need to wait for absolute perfection to share your progress. Instead, utilize AI insights to transparently showcase your milestones, admitting where improvements are still required. This humility fosters genuine trust. Furthermore, success metrics are fundamentally changing. We move beyond simple click-through rates and short-term revenue spikes. AI analytics enable us to measure long-term behavioral changes and authentic environmental impact. The climate crisis remains our generation's most critical challenge, and marketers possess the unique cognitive influence to drive sustainable choices. By merging AI's analytical power with purpose-driven storytelling, marketers can truly steer corporate policy rather than merely echoing it. It is time to step up. Embracing AI-driven sustainability communications is no longer just a marketing hygiene factor. It is the definitive frontier for modern business survival and meaningful global change.

Today marks a clear victory for Albertans. Alberta’s government identified the federal electric vehicle mandate as one of the nine bad federal laws and policies that were hurting our economy, driving up costs and interfering in areas of provincial jurisdiction. We said from the beginning that this policy was bad for Alberta and bad for Canada. Now, the federal government is scrapping it, thanks in large part to our government’s advocacy. From the day this mandate was imposed, Alberta warned it was unrealistic, unaffordable and unworkable. It would have taken choices away from families, imposed unnecessary costs on consumers and businesses, and placed enormous new demands on provincial electricity grids without the infrastructure required to support it. The removal of the EV mandate is the latest example of Ottawa reconsidering policies Alberta has consistently opposed. It builds on the commitment from the federal government not to proceed with a federal oil and gas emissions cap, abeyance of the federal Clean Electricity Regulations, an agreement-in-principle allowing Alberta to continue regulating methane under its existing system, Impact Assessment Agreement to streamline project reviews, and the removal of greenwashing provisions in the Competition Act. I also appreciate the work of our friends from the Conservative Party of Canada under the leadership of @PierrePoilievre for the work they did advocating for the removal of these policies. Albertans should be free to choose the vehicle that works best for their family, their business and their budget. Governments should set achievable environmental outcomes and allow consumers, businesses and innovators to determine the best technologies to meet them, not dictate what Canadians can and cannot drive. Alberta is already delivering real emissions reductions without sacrificing affordability or economic growth. Since 2019, Alberta’s overall emissions have declined 9 per cent, while transportation emissions have fallen 17 per cent. We support reducing transportation emissions and giving Albertans lower-emissions options. But environmental policy must be practical, achievable and technology-neutral. The EV mandate failed that test. While today’s decision is an important step toward resetting the relationship between Alberta and the federal government, there still more work to do. We will also closely analyze Ottawa’s proposed replacement vehicle-emissions regulations to ensure the federal government does not simply recreate the EV mandate under another name. Alberta fought this mandate from the beginning. Today, common sense prevailed.