What is Green Claims?

Green Claims are statements or marketing messages that companies use to present their products, services or practices as environmentally friendly. friendly or sustainable. This is information intended to convince consumers that a given product or service has a positive or less negative impact on the environment.

Environmental claims as such are subject to various legal and regulatory frameworks in the EU to ensure that these claims are true, clear and verifiable. The specific directive that deals with the protection of consumers against misleading environmental claims is: Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices (Unfair Commercial Practices Directive - UCPD):

Main aspects of Directive 2005/29/EC:

– Prohibits deceptive practices: Including making false or misleading environmental claims.

– Focused on consumer protection: Against various forms of deceptive advertising and marketing, including those that touch on the environmental benefits of products or services.

– Criteria and guidelines: To assess whether environmental claims are true and not misleading, including providing evidence to support these claims.

In addition to Directive 2005/29/EC, the European Commission regularly issues recommendations and guidelines to support reliable and transparent environmental claims, thereby trying to reduce the practice of so-called greenwashing. This is often combined with other regulatory instruments related to product labelling, energy efficiency and ecodesign (for example Directive 2010/30/EU on energy efficiency labelling).

Purpose of regulation:

– Ensure transparency: Products and services labeled as ecological must be truly environmentally friendly.

– Protect consumers: From misleading claims that may influence their purchasing decisions.

– Promote sustainability: By promoting only truly ecological practices and products.

Summary:

– Green Claims are true and substantiated claims about the positive environmental properties of a product or practice.

– Greenwashing is the misleading practice of presenting products or services as more environmentally friendly than they actually are in order to make a commercial profit. (Co2AI)