Analysing millions of public documents in over 20 languages, new research reveals the global share of companies linked to both greenwashing and biodiversity risks has doubled over the past five years.
Up from 3% in 2021 to 6% in 2025, the rise is revealed in the fourth annual report on greenwashing from RepRisk, the leading Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) company for reputational risks and responsible business.
This year’s report focuses on the link between greenwashing and biodiversity risks. Its findings indicate rising awareness of nature-related risks and adoption of ‘nature positive’ strategies are increasing pressure on companies to demonstrate progress, which, at times, results in overstated, vague, or misleading claims.
Biodiversity on the agenda
The headline statistics from the study highlight growing trends in corporate behaviour:
- Biodiversity dominates the environmental risk landscape: 38% of all environmental risk incidents tracked by RepRisk in the past year involved biodiversity — followed by local pollution (33%) and waste (17%);
- Gatekeepers between capital and sustainability are under scrutiny: 294 Banking and Financial Services firms were flagged for greenwashing risk in 2025 — a 19% rise from 248 the year before;
- Repeat behaviour is evident more in some sectors than others: In aviation, for instance, 7 in 10 companies that were flagged for greenwashing in 2024 get flagged again in 2025.
For biodiversity risk, the significant move up the mainstream business agenda could be construed as good news of sorts, in terms of the issue starting to get the awareness and attention it has long deserved.
The bad news is that greenwash is following hard on its heels, with repeat offenders clearly in evidence.
Moving forward, more and better data will be key, says Philipp Aeby, CEO and Co-founder at RepRisk:
“As biodiversity rises on board agendas, so does public scrutiny — and the price of greenwashing is paid in reputation and revenue. Greenwashing feeds on corporate narratives, so transparency demands data beyond company claims to ensure better performance and peace of mind.”
Prime sectors and repeat offenders
RepRisk data shows that biodiversity risk exposure has consistently ranked among the top environmental issues over the past five years — accounting for almost 4 in every 10 issues flagged in 2025 (38%).
In terms of sectors, while banking, asset management, and financial services have a limited direct impact on biodiversity, they still remain exposed to associated risks, including greenwashing, in their role as enabler. In 2025, 294 sector companies were flagged for greenwashing risk — up 19% on the previous year.
Unfortunately, greenwashing can also be seen to be a recurring feature of business conduct.
Some industries clearly harbour more repeat offenders than others, too. In the case of the airlines sector, for example, nearly 7 in 10 companies flagged for greenwashing risk in 2024 got flagged again in 2025.
US and UK up; EU down
The report data also highlights diverging regional trends. So, while the EU has seen a steady decline in greenwashing risk since 2023, both the US and UK have experienced notable increases over the past year.
In the US, greenwashing risk exposure increased to more than 4% in 2023, eased slightly in 2024, and climbed again in 2025 — underscoring persistent challenges despite heightened scrutiny.
Scope, issues and topics
Analysing more than 2,500,000 documents in 23 languages daily from over 150,000 public sources and stakeholders, RepRisk adopts a risk-based, outside-in approach. For credibility, its methodology draws exclusively from external public sources and intentionally excludes company self-disclosures.
RepRisk’s core research scope is comprised of 28 Issues — with greenwashing captured through the intersection of two issue groups: any Environmental Issue and Misleading Communication.
As of 2025, RepRisk also provides 80 Topic tags, with six new additions. There are dedicated tags for Greenwashing and Social Washing, as well as Artificial Intelligence, Deforestation, Ecocide, and Mercury.
RepRisk is the world leader in DaaS for reputational risks and responsible business conduct. Headquartered in Zurich, and with offices in Toronto, New York, London, Berlin, Manila, and Tokyo, the company combines advanced AI with deep human expertise to help drive positive change through transparency.
Further Reading:
- More on 4th annual greenwashing report; from reputation and responsibility specialist RepRisk;
- Also on SustMeme, Rise in ESG risks linked to greenwashing;
- Also on SustMeme, Why credibility will define sustainable brand growth (Guest Blog);
- Also on SustMeme, Beyond the Label: Transparency not just taglines (Guest Blog);
- Also on SustMeme, Navigating through the ESG reporting landscape (Guest Blog);
- Also on SustMeme, ESG is not being taken seriously by companies;
- Also on SustMeme, Is greenwash the new goldrush for litigation?
Check out the full archive of stories on the SustMeme Business & Finance Channel, now available to Sponsor.
