(17 June 2024)The EU Council has just adopted its position on the Green Claims Directive, which aims to address greenwashing and help consumers make truly greener decisions when buying a product or using a service.
The Green Claims Directive sets minimum requirements for the substantiation, communication and verification of explicit environmental claims.
This new proposal specifically targets explicit environmental claims (written or oral text) and environmental labels that companies use voluntarily when marketing their greenness and which cover the environmental impacts, aspects or performance of a product or trader. It also applies to existing and future environmental labelling schemes, both public and private ones.
The general approach draws a distinction between explicit environmental claims and environmental labels, in order to clearly specify the obligations applicable to each, including which requirements apply to both.
What we know about the Green Claims Directive so far
✅ Green claims will need to be verified by third-party independent experts before they are published.
The Internal Market and Environment committees previously agreed their position on how businesses will need to validate their environmental claims under the ban, stating that companies will need to submit any future environmental marketing claims for approval before using them, and claims will be assessed by accredited verifiers within 30 days. MEPs have said that the Commission should draw up a list of less complex claims and products that could benefit from faster or simpler verification.
✅ Independent verifiers will be empowered to validate whether terms have been used accurately, or if statements should be withdrawn.
✅ Green claims must be proven with up to date scientific evidence.
✅ SMEs and micro-enterprises will NOT be exempt from third-party verification.
✅ Private environmental label schemes must be reliable, transparent, independently verified and regularly reviewed. They must meet Commission requirements regarding transparency, dispute resolution, and non-compliance. New labels will only be allowed if developed at EU level and only approved if they demonstrate greater environmental ambition than existing label schemes.
✅ If labelling schemes meet EU standards, they will be exempt from third-party verification.
✅ Notably one of the key changes to the original directive proposed relates to the use of carbon offsetting in “carbon neutral” and “net zero” claims. The EU Parliament’s position (March 2024) was to ban green claims based entirely on the use of carbon offsetting schemes. The Council’s position (announced yesterday) will allow the use of offset claims, if they prove a net zero target, show progress towards decarbonisation, and disclose the percentage of total greenhouse gas emissions that have been offset.
✅ Companies will be expected to make more detailed disclosures about their use of carbon credits and the standard by which they were certified.
This agreement means the Council of EU member states is ready to enter talks with the European Parliament to finalise the law in the coming months.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?
If you sell in the EU, you will need to comply with the Green Claims Directive, whatever size your business is.
Even if you don’t actively trade in the EU, this could have implications for green claims made on your website if your website can be accessed from EU locations.
You will need scientific evidence to substantiate your green claims. UK Green Claims regulation already requires full lifecycle context, so you should consider the need for a Full Lifecycle Analysis if you don’t already have one, and start gathering evidence for the claims you’re making.
Third-party verification of claims could add additional cost and time requirements to marketing campaigns. If sustainability is a big part of your USP and marketing messaging, you should start factoring this into your planning as more detail becomes available.
It’s not enough to rely on third-party standards or eco-labelling. Under existing UK Green Claims regulation you still need to hold robust evidence for your claims. If going for more labels and accreditations is part of your 24 month roadmap, you should check they meet the EU requirements and will actually add value to your business.
Compliance takes time. Laws are already in place in the UK, and they’re coming in the EU. Once the greenwashing ban receives final approval, member states will have 24 months to transpose it into law. The requirements to submit your green claims for verification will likely fall on a similar timeline, so the earlier you can prepare, the better.
You should already be evidencing your green claims as best practice (and under Green Claims Code regulations in the UK), but your comms team will need to adopt new schedules to accommodate the 30 day approval process when planning and designing campaigns.
As a recap, here’s what the ban on greenwashing includes so far.
You should be prioritising compliance and up-skilling your team now.
