EU tackles greenwashing with a draft law

The intent is to make sure that sustainable transition is not just a fad, marketing term or an opportunity to scam

The EU aims to get tougher on the phenomenon of ‘greenwashing’ with a new legislative proposal to sanction companies who promote products and services as sustainable without proof that they are indeed such.

The aim of the draft law is to codify and strengthen the definitions of what can be considered in fact green, sustainable and climate neutral. Given the fact that billions of euros in funding go to such initiatives, there is a need for better oversight and regulation on what is essentially a continental economy in flux.

EU countries will have to ensure that environmental assertions made by companies about their products are backed by scientific evidence, according to a draft European Commission proposal seen by media outlets, such as Bloomberg and Reuters. Under the plans, firms that want to tout the positive climate aspects of their offerings also have to highlight the detrimental effects to ensure full transparency.

50% of green claims in the EU are bogus

Distracted by the need to transition to a better future and by mounting crises, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ever-more prominent climate change patterns, policymakers have focused on encouraging and stimulating industries and citizens to embrace a greener lifestyle.

That, however, might be coming at a cost, since the European Commission said it had found that 53 per cent of hundreds of claims assessed in 2020 gave “vague, misleading or unfounded information about products’ environmental characteristics”.

The draft proposal thus aims to ensure a level field for business in the “green” marketing sphere, on the one hand. On the other, it aims to defend and uphold the rights of consumers to have access to verified information when making their purchasing choices, so that they can truly support green businesses.

The law would impose reporting duties on companies, and the national governments will have to resort to scientific methods to fact-check that the environmental claims of the private sector are authentic.

Claims based on promises of future environmental performance must be backed up by milestones the company will achieve by specific dates.

Companies whose claims rely on buying carbon credits to offset their own environmental impact would have to disclose this.