March 24, 2023

The European Commission has proposed new rules on companies' environmental claims - but some campaigners say they don't go far enough.

Companies will be required to obtain independent verification of any environmental claims linked to their products, under proposed new EU rules.

After conducting a study into greenwashing in November last year, the European Commission has put forward a proposal aimed at stopping companies from making unsubstantiated claims about environmental qualities.

In a statement, the commission said its planned rules would target explicit claims linked to environmentally friendly products, such as reduced carbon emissions, recycled materials, and other low environmental impact assertions.

All such “green claims” must be “independently verified and proven with scientific evidence”, the EU Commission said. Aggregated scoring approaches will also no longer be allowed, while product comparisons “should be based on equivalent information and data”.

Frans Timmermans, executive vice-president of the European Green Deal, said a lack of evidence or verification of green claims “opens the door to greenwashing” while putting companies “at a disadvantage” if they are making a genuine impact.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, the EU commissioner for environment, oceans and fisheries, said: “Being able to trust green claims and labels on products is important. The proposals tabled by the Commission today will protect businesses and consumers from harmful greenwashing practices and tackle the proliferation of labels.

“We want to help consumers become more confident about their choices and ensure that those companies that make genuine efforts to reduce their impacts on nature, resource use, climate emissions or pollution are rewarded. We should also advance on using common trustworthy labels like the EU Ecolabel, which is a mark of environmental excellence on our single market.”

However, the non-profit group ECOS – the Environmental Coalition on Standards – argued that the proposal had been “substantially watered down” after “months of intense lobbying”. Claims that products or services are climate neutral will not be covered by the new rules, ECOS highlighted.

Margaux Le Gallou, programme manager for environmental information and assessment at ECOS, said: “Tackling misleading green claims is crucial to ensure consumers get reliable information and are empowered to make sustainable choices.

“Sadly, without harmonised methodologies at the EU level, the new Directive will provide little clarity to consumers and businesses, and will only complicate the job of market surveillance authorities. Today, most green claims are too good to be true and the proposal is far from the real (green) deal.”