EU proposes new rules for corporate green claims
Campaigners welcome clampdown on low-integrity labelling schemes, but warn proposed rules have been watered down from draft proposals
The European Commission has set out draft rules designed to crackdown on misleading green claims, arguing the move will benefit those businesses making a genuine effort to improve their environmental performance.
The Green Claims Directive, published yesterday by the Commission, proposes that companies operating in the bloc meet a string of minimum requirements when substantiating and communicating environmental claims, so as to better ensure consumers are not misled.
Under the proposed rules, which are now set to be debated by the European Parliament and 27 member states, claims such as “made from recycled materials” or “ocean-friendly” will need to be backed up by scientific evidence, verified by a third party, and regularly reviewed.
In addition, when making claims about ‘carbon neutrality’ companies would need to be transparent about what part of the claim concerns their own operations, and what part relies on buying offsets. The proposals also include requirements covering the integrity of offsets themselves and the accounting rules that govern them.
Presented alongside “right to repair” rules designed to cut tech waste by forcing manufacturers to allow customers to have broken products repaired, the long-awaited greenwashing rules are designed to help the EU meet its climate goals and develop a more sustainable, circular economy.
The Commission also said any green claims that rely on comparisons with other products and organisations must be fair, while labels or claims that use “aggregate scoring” to represent a product’s overall environmental impact on, for example biodiversity, climate, water consumption, and soil, will not be permitted.
And the proposed Directive sets out fresh regulations for environmental labelling schemes, noting that the proliferation of green certifications in recent years is leading to customer confusion and distrust.
Announcing the Directive on Twitter, EU Commissioner for Environment Virginijus Sinkevičius said the common rules were needed, noting that more than 50 per cent of corporate green claims made in the EU are “misleading or unfounded”.
“230 environmental labels in the EU market, no wonder there’s confusion,” he wrote on Twitter. “Today’s proposal will empower all of us to make choices that are kind to the planet and reward innovative companies that care about their impact.”
Under the proposals, consumer organisations will be able to bring legal action against companies that make green claims that do not meet the minimum requirements for substantiation.
And the Commission has proposed a ban on new labelling schemes, unless developed at the EU level, with existing private schemes set to be reviewed to ensure they have high environmental ambition and are “reliable, transparent and independently verified”.
The Changing Markets Foundation, which has been closely tracking misleading green claims in consumer goods sectors, welcomed the proposals, noting that weak labels and certification schemes were undermining credible sustainability efforts.
“With this proposal, the EU has struck a match for the upcoming bonfire of certification schemes,” said George Harding-Rolls, campaign manager at the Changing Markets Foundation. “We have warned such labels to become more robust and transparent for many years, so those who have dragged their heels are in for an unpleasant surprise.”
However, the organisation said it was disappointing the Commission had stopped short of banning generic climate claims, such as ‘carbon neutral’, which it branded as a prevalent “greenwashing tactic”.
“Our research showed that over half of dodgy climate claims in food rely on offsets of dubious quality, misleading consumers into believing they’re buying products with reduced emissions,” said Nusa Urbanic, campaigns director at the Changing Markets Foundation. “The latest IPCC report showed that we must rapidly reduce emissions from all sectors, so it is a shame that the Green Claims Directive is not turbocharging real climate solutions by banning these false claims.”
The organisation urged the EU to reinstate plans to pick a methodology that companies should use to substantiate their science-based claims, warning there was a risk the rules spur an array of methodologies which could lead to yet more confusion. Plans to require companies to use an approach known as Product Environmental Footprint in previous drafts of the Directive were stripped from the final version.
