European Commission targets greenwashing through new regulatory framework

Greenwashing, or ecoblanching, refers to communication strategies that present an activity as more environmentally friendly than available data justifies. The European Commission has highlighted that consumers can be misled when general impressions of a product exceed its demonstrated environmental benefits.

To combat this, Directive (EU) 2024/825 aims to regulate generic environmental claims and certain assertions regarding climate neutrality. The framework seeks to ensure that environmental information is reliable, comparable, and verifiable. Effective assessment requires looking beyond vague vocabulary—such as ‘clean’, ‘responsible’, or ‘nature-friendly’—and instead examining specific evidence regarding materials, manufacturing, transport, usage, and end-of-life impacts.