Faiza Tehseen

Pakistan needs a proper legislation and policy framework for promotion of green marketing, which will not only bring about a positive change in the overall business behaviour but also contribute to saving the environment. Dr. Sobia Rose, an environmental research economist at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), said this while talking to WealthPK.

"To promote ecological safety and sustainable business practices, it is crucial to enforce environmental marketing regulations. To address environmental safety, two types of NOCs are mandatory besides licenses and permits. One is for the construction sector and the other for the production units. These NOCs are only issued for environmental safety concerning production or construction," she said. "In several countries, rules and regulations related to green marketing are strictly followed, but unfortunately, no serious attention is paid to this end in Pakistan. The most effective factor in addressing this issue is the attitude of businesspeople, especially on the production side. "In other countries, corporate social responsibility is taken as an obligation, while in Pakistan, it is neglected to earn more profit. This type of negative externalities deprives people of their social rights. Some companies in Pakistan are voluntarily doing so by producing organic things, but still, there is a need to frame the green marketing regulations," she said. Implementation of these measures can contribute to the development of a sustainable and eco-friendly business environment in Pakistan. Mostly, environmental issues are taken as a cosmetic exercise in our society. However, the promotion of environment-friendly products has generated many new marketing aspects like solar panels, electric vehicles, and humidifiers, etc. So, we can say that changing climatic conditions have paved the way for many new businesses.

Now, the point is that the businesspeople in Pakistan sometimes voluntarily adopt environment-friendly practices like recycling products or producing organic things. But still, the question remains: What measures have they taken to popularize green marketing during their advertising campaign? In schools, children are getting familiar with the concepts of "environmental protection," and "green marketing," but the masses badly need an awareness campaign through social media channels. To promote this concept among the people, the authorities need to frame a set of rules and regulations concerning green marketing. Engaging stakeholders is also important to show the public the benefits of green marketing and environmental regulations through awareness campaign. The government can support this issue by instituting a dedicated regulatory body to oversee the implementation of green marketing rules and regulations. To popularize green marketing in the country, some more steps can also be taken like tax rebates, eco-labelling for the products meeting specified ecological standards, launch of capacity building program, coordination with the global experts, research and development approach to support innovative product design, and manufacturing process to minimize the environmental impact.

Credit: INP-WealthPk