Europe's anti-greenwashing rules are now in force. While the legislation applies to businesses selling to EU consumers, it also reflects a broader shift towards more specific, evidence-based sustainability claims.
What changed?
On 27 September 2026, the European Union's Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (ECGT) entered into application, introducing new restrictions on environmental marketing and sustainability claims. The rules are designed to protect consumers from misleading environmental messaging and improve transparency around sustainability performance, reflecting a broader global push for more credible and substantiated sustainability claims.
Among the key changes are prohibitions on vague environmental claims such as "eco-friendly" or "environmentally friendly" without supporting evidence, tighter controls on sustainability labels, restrictions on carbon neutrality claims based solely on offsetting, and stronger requirements for businesses making future environmental commitments.
Why leaders should pay attention
- The burden of proof is increasing. Businesses can no longer rely on broad sustainability messaging. Environmental claims must be specific, substantiated and defensible.
- Trust is becoming a competitive advantage. As regulators crack down on greenwashing, organisations that can demonstrate credible environmental performance are likely to stand out from competitors relying on marketing-led claims.
- Most organisations won't need to fundamentally change their sustainability programmes. However, they may need to change how they communicate environmental performance, particularly when making claims in consumer-facing markets.
- Businesses that already measure, verify and certify their environmental performance are generally well positioned for this shift, as many of the Directive's expectations align with practices they have already embedded.
- Environmental claims are moving from communications risk to governance risk. Sustainability statements increasingly need the same rigour, evidence and oversight applied to financial or legal disclosures.
- Market expectations continue to shift. Consumers, regulators and business customers are asking harder questions about environmental performance and demanding answers that can be verified.
Toitū’s take
The most significant development here isn't the regulation itself. It's what it signals about where environmental claims are heading.
Regulators, customers and markets are increasingly expecting environmental claims to be specific, measurable and backed by evidence. The conversation is shifting away from broad sustainability messaging and towards demonstrable performance. Generic claims such as "environmentally friendly" or "climate friendly" are exactly the type of language regulators are seeking to address.
For many organisations, this shouldn't be viewed as a compliance burden. Businesses that already measure, verify and manage their environmental impacts are generally well positioned for this shift. The real opportunity is to build trust by communicating environmental performance with greater clarity, confidence and credibility.
We've been working with clients to understand the implications of the Directive. While a small number may need to review specific product or marketing claims for the EU market, the underlying direction of travel will be familiar: claims should be clear, specific and supported by credible evidence.
What should businesses do next?
- Review your environmental claims. Are they specific, evidence-based and easy to substantiate if challenged?
- Review any environmental claims you make and ensure they are specific, measurable and supported by evidence. Generic claims may face increasing scrutiny.
- Use independent verification, certification and robust environmental data to strengthen the credibility of claims and prepare for rising expectations from regulators and customers.
- Review consumer-facing product, packaging and marketing claims regularly to ensure they remain accurate, substantiated and fit for evolving market expectations.
The bigger picture
This is unlikely to be a one-off regulatory change. It's another signal that sustainability is entering a more mature phase, where credibility is earned through evidence rather than intention, and where trust increasingly depends on what organisations can prove, not just what they promise.