EU green claims rules: what you can still say on pack and in campaigns

What are the EU green claims rules, and what can you still say?

The EU green claims rules are the bans on misleading environmental claims that Directive (EU) 2024/825, the Empowering Consumers Directive, adds to EU consumer law, and they have applied since 27 September 2026. You can still make environmental claims on pack and in campaigns. They have to be specific, true for exactly what they describe, and provable.

The directive was adopted in February 2024 and amends the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC). According to a summary of the directive by COSLAW, it adds three practices to the list that is banned outright:

1. "Displaying a sustainability label that is not based on a recognised certification scheme."

2. "Making an environmental claim concerning an entire product or business, where it relates only to a specific aspect or activity."

3. "Making a generic environmental claim without being able to demonstrate recognised related excellent environmental performance."

Several kinds of claim remain open to you. You can make a precise claim about a named part of the product, as long as you can document it. You can carry a label from a recognised certification scheme. You can give consumers clear information about durability and repairability, which the directive also promotes.

Conclusion: Vague is out. Specific and provable is in.

Why do the new rules matter for packaging and campaigns?

The rules matter because they cover every commercial practice aimed at consumers, not only what is printed on the box. The directive "focuses on commercial practices between businesses and consumers," according to Ireland's Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Pack, campaign, website and social posts all count.

The same source names two targets. The first is "making false or misleading claims about a product's environmental benefits". The second is "using unverified sustainability labels and unsubstantiated claims". The directive also sets EU-wide rules on information about durability and repairability before purchase.

Packaging is the hardest part to fix. A campaign line can be pulled in a day. A printed claim depends on artwork cycles, print runs and stock already on shelf, so pack claims need checking first.

How do the three bans work in practice?

Each ban tests a different part of a claim: the label, the scope and the word.

• The label. Many brands have designed their own leaf badge with a name such as "Planet care". If that badge is not based on a recognised certification scheme, it is banned.

• The scope. "Recyclable packaging" on a pack where only the tray can be recycled claims too much. "Recyclable tray" says the same thing honestly. The test also applies to companies. One solar-powered factory does not make the whole business "greener".

• The word. "Eco-friendly", "green" and "sustainable" are generic claims. You can only use them if you can show recognised excellent environmental performance.

In most cases the fix is to replace the adjective with a fact. "Planet-friendly pack" becomes "Tray made from 100 per cent recycled PET", if your documentation supports it. The second claim is narrower. It is also the only one of the two you can defend.

Wasn't the Green Claims Directive withdrawn?

No, the Green Claims Directive is a separate proposal, and the bans described above apply either way. Confusing the two laws is the most common misunderstanding about the new rules.

The European Commission proposed the Green Claims Directive in March 2023. It announced plans to withdraw it on 20 June 2025, and negotiations were cancelled on 23 June 2025. According to Mason Hayes & Curran, the Commission later clarified that the directive "is not formally withdrawn, but its future is now uncertain". The Empowering Consumers Directive is a different law, and it applies.

Two other misunderstandings come up often:

• "If it's true, it's fine." A claim can be accurate about one component and still be banned if it presents that component as the whole product.

• "This is a packaging issue." The rules cover consumer-facing commercial practices, so campaigns and digital channels fall under them as well.

How does IW Agency see the new rules?

At IW Agency, we think the bans help brands that have something real to say. "Eco-friendly" was never a brand asset. Any brand could print it, so nobody remembered who did.

A specific fact works differently. People can picture it, repeat it and come to believe it, and belief is what earns a brand trust over time. We explore that idea in belief is the new benefit.

The rules also move green claims out of Comms alone. A claim now has to start in Strategy, with what the business actually does. Design then has to make a precise, sober fact feel like something. The discipline is the same one we describe for building brands in regulated markets: when you can say less, every word and every visual cue has to work harder.

Conclusion: A claim you can prove is a claim people remember.

What does this mean for your brand?

• Audit every claim, everywhere. List each environmental claim and label across pack, campaign, site and social. Note the evidence for each one.

• Turn adjectives into facts. Replace "green", "eco-friendly" and "sustainable" with a measurable statement about a named part of the product.

• Retire home-made badges. Keep a sustainability label only if it rests on a recognised certification scheme.

• Match the scope to the proof. If the evidence covers the cap, the claim covers the cap.

• Review neutrality and offset claims with legal counsel. Check every "climate neutral" or similar claim against the directive's list of banned practices before it goes to print.

Frequently asked questions

When do the EU green claims rules apply?

The rules have applied since 27 September 2026. By that date, traders in the EU had to make sure their environmental claims and sustainability labels complied with the new requirements.

Can we still call our product "sustainable"?

You can only do so if you can demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance. Without that proof, make a specific claim about a named aspect of the product that you can document.

Can we use our own sustainability label?

You can only use it if it is based on a recognised certification scheme. A label designed in-house without such a scheme behind it is a banned practice.

Does the directive cover B2B marketing?

The directive focuses on commercial practices between businesses and consumers. Business-to-business communication falls outside that focus, but other rules on misleading marketing may still apply.

Where should you start?

The new rules do not stop brands from talking about sustainability. They stop brands from being vague about it. Start with the claims that are hardest to change, then make every remaining one specific enough to prove and distinct enough to remember. If you want to talk it through, write to hello@iwagency.com.

Sources

• Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition — Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment

• Environmental claims after 27 September 2026 — COSLAW

• Greenwashing: Update on the Green Claims Directive — Mason Hayes & Curran