At the end of March, the EU Commission intends to present its draft "Green Claims Directive". It's expected to say that companies are only allowed to market goods as environmentally or climate-friendly if they can prove the statements. There shall be rigorous scientific requirements to support each green advertising claim and the methodology must be publicly available.
The draft also goes into many individual aspects, for example the controversial claim "climate neutral". It states: "Any climate-related claim that relies on greenhouse gas emission offsets must state the extent to which it relies on offsets." And if a green promise is made but achieving it results in a significant negative impact in another category, the negative impact must be communicated along with the promise.
In the UK, the competition regulator will consider whether companies selling food, drink and toiletries are wrongly labelling products as “sustainable” or “better for the environment” in its latest probe into greenwashing. The new probe will cover food, drink, cleaning products, toiletries and personal care items such as toothpaste and laundry detergent, the CMA said.