Extreme weather events are increasing in occurrence on a global scale – record-breaking forest fires, heatwaves, tropical storms and floods. The evidence of climate change is nonnegotiable. And as of last year, thousands of jurisdictions in 40 countries have issued a climate emergency declaration.

The products consumers purchase and brands they invest in are one choice consumers can make towards positive environmental change. But even though companies know this and make efforts to address this demand, a new Deloitte report finds that Canadians are having a hard time believing what they’re being sold when it comes to eco-friendly marketing.

Deloitte surveyed roughly 1000 Canadian consumers and 311 business leaders in order to consider the level of trust between them. The report yields a big takeaway: while brands and consumers largely have the right intentions in theory, there is a disconnect in practice.

There is a substantial gap between how well business leaders think they’re doing in terms of earned trust and how their consumers actually feel – either skeptical or confused and resentful. Over half of the survey respondents don’t think the sustainable claims brands make about their goods and services are true. When you further breakdown the reasoning, 49% of consumers are mostly mistrustful of brands overall, while 23% simply find it too complicated to tell what is authentic information and what is greenwashing. A staggering 46% are even unwilling to shell out more for sustainable products because identifying sustainable products is not straightforward.

Business leaders that participated in the survey, on the other hand, seem largely unaware of how truly consumers perceive their sustainable image and brand. Their main concerns focus on the potential impacts that accusations of greenwashing could have on their company. Forty-one percent of businesses feel that if they were to pursue sustainability goals more seriously and communicate that work, they could risk greenwashing backlash.

Canadians, however, are sure about who the onus is on when it comes to doing this work. Ninety-four percent say it’s a brand’s responsibility to create products that are not harmful to the planet. And it pays off, because on average, 40% say they’ve purchased a product or service based on a company’s claims – when those claims are well-communicated.