{"id":747143,"date":"2026-02-06T22:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T22:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/747143\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T22:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T22:20:11","slug":"why-shein-dropped-its-net-zero-claim-in-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/747143\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Shein Dropped Its Net-Zero Claim in Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tShein<\/a> has pulled its net-zero pledge in Germany<\/a> after a local watchdog group compelled the e-tail juggernaut to substantiate its claim or drop it.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe move followed a complaint filed in December by the environmental nonprofit Deutsche Umwelthilfe\u2014better known as DUH\u2014against Infinite Styles Services Co., the Dublin-registered entity that operates Shein\u2019s online platforms. In the filing, DUH argued that the Chinese-founded firm failed to sufficiently explain how it would achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 despite a 23 percent year-over-year spike in greenhouse gas emissions in 2024 and a 45 percent increase the year before that. Together, the increases made it fashion\u2019s worst polluter for two years running.<\/p>\n

\n\tShein had previously described<\/a> the Science Based Targets initiative\u2019s 2025 validation of its target as a \u201cmilestone\u201d in its \u201cclimate journey.\u201d With the submission of a legally binding cease-and-desist agreement, the Singapore-headquartered retailer must steer clear of what DUH has characterized as its \u201cblatant consumer deception\u201d or risk severe financial penalties.<\/p>\n

\n\tA Shein spokesperson said the company had \u201cengaged constructively with DUH over recent months,\u201d including by publishing additional information on its website to offer \u201cgreater transparency around its sustainability targets, data and progress,\u201d and that it welcomed the ongoing dialogue.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s noteworthy is that the lawsuit\u2019s conclusion came more than half a year after the European Commission abruptly withdrew a proposed law targeting the same kind of nebulous or unfounded corporate environmental claims commonly known as \u201cgreenwashing<\/a>.\u201d Had it passed as planned, it would have outlawed vague terms such as \u201cenvironmentally friendly,\u201d \u201cclimate neutral\u201d and, indeed, even \u201cnet-zero\u201d if enough evidence didn\u2019t back them up.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs with the corporate sustainability due diligence directive<\/a> and other sustainability laws, concerns abound that any environmental claims regulation that makes it through will be watered down in scope and impact.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd yet for Maxine B\u00e9dat, executive director of the New Standard Institute and an architect of New York State\u2019s Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act<\/a>, the case against Shein only exemplifies the \u201cneed for real rules\u201d industry-wide, especially since \u201cignoring climate change<\/a> doesn\u2019t make it go away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe bigger issue is what happens next,\u201d she said. \u201cThe net-zero commitment disappears and nothing about the underlying trajectory changes; emissions continue to rise; kids stay hooked on cheap, toxic-infused products; landfills become more expensive to maintain; and the costs of climate change mount through more fires and more flooding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut DUH is far from done: Not only is the organization calling on Germany\u2019s environment minister Carsten Schneider to hold fast fashion purveyors fiscally accountable for their practices, but it\u2019s cueing up further legal action for what it said were \u201cmisleading\u201d advertising descriptions such as \u201clocal,\u201d \u201ceco-friendly\u201d and \u201c100 percent natural.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are now the first environmental and consumer protection organization to begin exposing Shein\u2019s unbelievable climate protection promises,\u201d said DUH managing director Barbara Metz. \u201cUltra-fast fashion, with its masses of toxic disposable clothing flown halfway around the globe, can never be climate-friendly by its very nature. These business models must no longer be profitable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile Schneider, citing overflowing landfills and collection bins, said last month that the government is mulling a law that would require textile producers to contribute financially to the disposal of used clothing, Metz said he wasn\u2019t thinking nearly ambitiously enough.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMinister Schneider now has the opportunity, through extended producer responsibility, to bring about a genuine systemic change in the textile industry,\u201d she said. \u201cHe must make fast-fashion practices economically unattractive through binding environmental criteria. We need durable and repairable fashion that can be borrowed, repaired, and reused. Such business models must be financed through a fund from manufacturer fees.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShein has come under scrutiny for greenwashing before, including by Italian authorities<\/a> that fined Infinite Styles Services Co. 1 million euros ($1.2 million) last August for making \u201cmisleading or omissive\u201d environmental claims about its products, including assertions that may have led consumers to believe that its EvoluShein by Design<\/a> collection was made entirely from \u201csustainable\u201d materials and fully recyclable.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd in July, France\u2019s competition, consumer affairs and fraud regulator dinged Shein for 40 million euros<\/a> ($47 million) for false discounting and environmental claims that contradicted its business model\u2014including that it was a \u201cresponsible company\u201d that limited its environmental impact by \u201creducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent.\u201d It was also in France that the Temu rival narrowly avoided<\/a> being suspended for its sale of illicit products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shein has pulled its net-zero pledge in Germany after a local watchdog group compelled the e-tail juggernaut to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":747144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5310],"tags":[2311,2000,299,1824,11479,8162],"class_list":["post-747143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-germany","tag-climate-change","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-germany","tag-greenwashing","tag-shein"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116026017313782344","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}