Global Health in Communication with Impact Washing

Last week we went through an introduction to Global Health and how it relates to Mundaly’s mission to honor the health and improve the wellbeing of marginalized communities through our Community-Verified platform. 

Another main aspect of Mundaly’s mission and vision forward is combatting impact washing, specifically in the global wellbeing community. The definition of impact washing is “companies, investment funds or institutions mak(ing) impact-oriented communications and claims without the support of evidence. Here, products, services, strategies and interventions tend to be presented as driving positive changes, while misrepresenting and downplaying facts that counter such claims.” This basically means that companies are claiming to do much more for the communities that they are partnering or involved with, without having data to back up that they actually are. Specifically in the climate industry this is referred to as “greenwashing”, when the claims they are making are presented as being environmentally-friendly. Many fashion companies have been accused of this the past few years, as it has become more fashionable to care about the environment. 

Why Would Organizations Deceive Their Customers?: 

Though it may seem obvious from a moral standpoint why organizations shouldn’t participate in this, it’s important to understand why they might be tempted. With the increase in concern over the climate and also an increased interest by the public in global wellbeing as we become a more globalized and easily connected world. We also need to understand why companies do this in the first place. The first reason is organization image. Organizations want to be recognized as caring about the global environment, no matter their industry. This is where our Community-Verified platform is applicable. All organizations can utilize our platform, though we focus on global wellbeing. Using our platform, organizations can make sure that the impact they wish to have on the community they are in is backed up by evidence. Mundaly helps organizations be able to show others that their impact claims are valid. The image, and hopefully evidence, that an organization is doing right by their communities helps attract and keep customers and partners who align with that vision of positive impact and concern for wellbeing. A second reason an organization might engage in impact washing is that they have intentions of doing what they say but have budget constraints that prevent them from following through. Mundaly can also help with this as we understand that gathering thorough data can be time consuming and expensive. Our platform seeks to be a cost effective but impactful way to stay engaged with your community so there is no temptation to cut corners with due diligence. Making claims without the evidence to back it up can lead to further unintended costs for an organization when they inevitably receive backlash for being deceitful to their customers. 

In the News:

In order to combat impact washing, it's imperative to be informed. The news articles below detail a few classic cases of impact or greenwashing that have been in the news and its future: 

1. Impact-washing a growing concern in social investing sector 

1. Critics slam Chevron for alleged greenwashing following hire of local climate lobbyists: 

Promoting health as a number one priority for Mundaly will make sure that communities and the organizations they partner with can achieve success and that the communities themselves have a say in their future. The damages of impact washing can cost lives so making sure your initiatives are evidence based and sustainable is key. Truly showing that partnerships can be beneficial for all involved is not only good for business, but good for the wellbeing of all involved. 

Next week we dive more into the topic of globalization and wellbeing in preparation for Mundaly’s first Global Health Dignity summit, August 15th at the University of Kolerbu.