New rules on environmental claims are approaching. Here’s what companies should do now to prepare.
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / July 17, 2026 / by Gabriele Ballero, public affairs manager at Cascale
New rules on environmental claims are approaching. Here’s what companies should do now to prepare. NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS … · Cascale
Greenwashing faces a real opponent in the form of European legislators. With consumers increasingly looking for more sustainable products, the way companies communicate environmental performance has been top of the EU policy watchlist for some time.
Alongside relevant country-specific legislation, Cascale’s public affairs team has been following both the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (ECGT) and the Green Claims Directive quite closely. While the two are related, they serve different purposes. The ECGT restricts certain misleading or vague environmental claims made to consumers, while the Green Claims Directive was intended to introduce detailed rules on how environmental claims should be substantiated and verified.
Yet while this year ECGT moves to implementation, after the Commission announced its intention to withdraw the proposal, the Green Claims Directive is still stuck in Council. There is currently no clear timeline for whether, or in what form, it may move forward. Even so, companies can take several practical steps now to strengthen readiness.
Actions to Take Now
Don’t delay action. Entering into force September 27, 2026, ECGT will introduce new restrictions on misleading environmental claims. Their immediate priority will be to map all existing environmental and climate claims that companies doing business in the EU have made to consumers.
Brands should convene colleagues across marketing, legal, and product teams to flag any high-risk wording, and vet all packaging, advertising, websites, labels, and product descriptions to ensure compliance with the new rules.
Broad, generic environmental claims without appropriate substantiation will become significantly more restricted under the ECGT. Companies should steer clear of vague claims like “climate neutral,” “carbon positive,” “zero impact,”or “environmentally friendly.” In line with other generalizations, a company cannot market an entire product as “made with recycled material” if only one aspect (such as packaging) contains recycled material. Where recycled-content claims are intended for consumer-facing communications, companies should obtain clear information from suppliers on the scope and percentage of recycled content.
Companies should also exercise caution when making comparative environmental claims. Comparing products based on environmental or social characteristics or circularity aspects such as durability, reparability, or recyclability is increasingly common, but could mislead consumers if comparisons are unclear, incomplete, or not properly substantiated.