Marketing wants to say the product is sustainable
From 27 September 2026 generic environmental claims such as 'eco-friendly' or 'green' are banned in the EU unless you can demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance; 'sustainable' needs more. Directive (EU) 2024/825 also bans sustainability labels without a certification scheme or public authority behind them, and offset-based climate neutral claims. Make each claim specific and hold the evidence before publishing.
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Reviewed 5 October 2026 by the Conphora compliance team · Not legal advice
Why this happens
Environmental claims have been covered by the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC for years: a claim that misleads the consumer is unlawful, and the trader has to be able to substantiate it. What changes is how much is left to interpretation. Directive (EU) 2024/825 adds environmental practices to the list of practices that are unfair in all circumstances. Member States had to transpose it by 27 March 2026, and the rules apply from 27 September 2026.[1]
Four additions matter most for a product company. A generic environmental claim is banned where the trader cannot demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim. A claim about the entire product is banned when it concerns only one aspect of it. A sustainability label is banned unless it is based on a certification scheme or established by a public authority. A claim that a product is neutral for the climate because emissions are offset is banned.[1]
Claims about the future are treated as misleading unless they rest on clear, objective, publicly available and verifiable commitments, set out in a detailed and realistic implementation plan that an independent third-party expert verifies regularly.[1]
Because the directive works through consumer law and not product law, it is enforced by the consumer authorities in each Member State, and, depending on national law, competitors and consumer organisations can act as well.[2]
How to solve it
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Collect every environmental claim you make today
Packaging, product pages, advertisements, social media and sales material. Include images, colours and badges that suggest an environmental benefit, not only the words.
GreenWashing scannerTools Open the app -
Sort the claims by type
Generic claims, claims about the whole product that are true for one part only, claims about future performance, and labels. Each type has its own rule in the directive.
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Make each claim specific
Say what is better, how much, compared with what, and for which part of the product or its life cycle. A claim that cannot be made specific is removed.
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Hold the evidence before the claim is published
Keep one file per claim with the data, the method and the date. Future targets need a detailed, realistic plan that an independent expert checks regularly.
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Review your labels
Keep labels that come from a certification scheme or a public authority, and retire the badge you designed yourself.
Knowledge & insightsKnow-how Free Open
Work through the steps in the platform with your own product.
What you need to show
| Document | Where it comes from | Legal ground |
|---|---|---|
| An inventory of claims, per channel and product | Marketing, together with the person responsible for compliance | The basis for assessing each claim |
| An evidence file per claim | Test data, life-cycle data, supplier declarations and certificates | A trader must be able to substantiate factual claims (Directive 2005/29/EC, Article 12) |
| The implementation plan behind a future claim | Management, with measurable targets, resources and independent verification | Directive 2005/29/EC, Article 6(2)(d), as inserted by Directive (EU) 2024/825 |
| The certificate behind each label | The certification scheme or the public authority that owns the label | Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I, as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/825 |
If you do nothing
The claim is an unfair commercial practice
The banned practices are on the list of practices that are unfair in all circumstances, so no assessment of the effect on the consumer is needed.[1]
Penalties under national law
Member States lay down the penalties for infringements of the national rules that implement the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (Directive 2005/29/EC, Article 13).[2]
Reprinted packaging and withdrawn campaigns
A claim that has to be removed is removed from every channel and every pack, including packaging that is already printed.
Questions about this problem
May we still use the word 'sustainable'?
Not on its own. The word alone is a generic claim, and recital 10 of Directive (EU) 2024/825 says that claims such as 'sustainable', 'conscious' or 'responsible' cannot rest on recognised excellent environmental performance alone, because they also concern social characteristics. Make the claim specific on the same medium and hold evidence for what it says.
Does the Green Claims Directive apply?
No. The Green Claims Directive is a separate Commission proposal from March 2023 (COM(2023) 166); on 4 October 2026 EUR-Lex listed its procedure, 2023/0085(COD), as ongoing with no adopted act, so it is not law. The rules described here come from Directive (EU) 2024/825, which amends the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.
What about 'climate neutral' based on offsets?
Claiming that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive impact on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions because of offsetting is banned.
Do the rules apply to business-to-business marketing?
The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive covers practices towards consumers. Claims that reach consumers through a retailer's pages or the packaging are covered.
Sources
- Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition EUR-Lex · accessed 21 September 2026
- Directive 2005/29/EC concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices EUR-Lex · accessed 21 September 2026
About this page
- Reviewer
- Conphora compliance team
- Reviewed
- 5 October 2026
General information, not legal advice. Check the legal text or ask an adviser about your own product.
Conphora (2026). Marketing wants to say the product is sustainable. Retrieved 13 October 2026 from https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/green-claim/
Conphora (2026) Marketing wants to say the product is sustainable. Available at: https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/green-claim/ (Accessed 13 October 2026).
@misc{conphora2026marketingwantstosaythepr,
author = {Conphora},
title = {Marketing wants to say the product is sustainable},
year = {2026},
url = {https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/green-claim/},
note = {Retrieved 13 October 2026}
} See it working before you add a product
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