EU EmpCo Directive to ban unsubstantiated green claims

New European Union regulations under the EmpCo Directive (2024/825), known as ‘Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition’, will take effect on September 27, 2026. These rules strictly prohibit unsubstantiated and vague environmental claims such as ‘green’, ‘eco-friendly’, or ‘climate neutral’.

To prevent misleading advertising, sustainability seals must now be based on independent certification systems or established by state authorities. Product-related claims based solely on carbon offsetting, such as ‘climate neutral’, will be prohibited. The regulations apply broadly to websites, social media, packaging, and traditional advertising materials currently in circulation.

Legal experts note that companies must fundamentally realign their approval processes to ensure marketing claims are legally defensible. There is also a growing trend of ‘greenhushing’, where companies preemptively remove even verifiable sustainability statements from their communications to avoid the risk of legal warnings.