Green Claims: Environmental Claims Without Greenwashing Risk
With the EmpCo Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/825) and the planned Green Claims Directive, the EU is taking decisive action against greenwashing. Blanket environmental claims such as "climate neutral", "environmentally friendly", or "eco" without solid evidence become unlawful.
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This obligation takes effect on 27.09.2026.
What Green Claims means
The EmpCo Directive amends the Consumer Rights Directive and prohibits general, unsubstantiated environmental claims. Claims of climate neutrality that rely solely on offsetting payments will be banned in future. Anyone advertising environmental benefits must substantiate them with recognized evidence or certifications and make this transparent in the listing. Violations can trigger warning letters and be sanctioned by authorities.
Who it applies to
Every merchant who advertises the environmental properties of their products is affected, regardless of industry. As soon as terms such as sustainable, recycled, biodegradable, or climate neutral are used, the substantiation obligation applies.
What must be shown in the shop
- Only substantiated or certified environmental claims
- Source or certificate for each claim (e.g. EU Ecolabel)
- No offset-based climate-neutral claims
- Transparent substantiation in or next to the product listing
How ShopCompliance solves this automatically
ShopCompliance reviews stored environmental claims, requires substantiation or a certificate for each claim, and hides unsubstantiated or prohibited claims before they appear in the storefront. That way only substantiated claims remain visible.
Implementing Green Claims in your Shopify store
- 1Record claims
Enter your environmental claims for each product, such as recycled, climate neutral, or biodegradable. ShopCompliance flags terms that are no longer permitted without evidence.
- 2Store evidence
Assign a certificate or verifiable proof to each claim, for example the EU Ecolabel. Offset-based climate-neutral claims are blocked.
- 3Show only what is substantiated
In the storefront only substantiated environmental claims appear, together with their source. Unsubstantiated greenwashing phrases are hidden.
Checklist: Green Claims
- ✓Only substantiated or certified environmental claims
- ✓Source or certificate for each claim (e.g. EU Ecolabel)
- ✓No offset-based climate-neutral claims
- ✓Transparent substantiation in or next to the product listing
Risks of non-compliance
Unsubstantiated or misleading environmental claims are considered anti-competitive and are regularly targeted with warning letters by associations such as the Wettbewerbszentrale and by competitors. After the EmpCo Directive is transposed, authorities can additionally impose fines and prohibit the advertising.
Meet it automatically with ShopCompliance
Activate the Green Claims module in a few clicks. ShopCompliance manages the mandatory information centrally and renders it automatically on your storefront, no theme code.
Open in the Shopify App StoreFrequently asked questions about Green Claims
When do the new rules on environmental claims apply?+
The EmpCo Directive must be transposed by the member states; the rules apply from 27.09.2026. Anyone who cleans up early avoids warning letters.
Is "climate neutral" still allowed?+
Climate-neutral claims based solely on offsetting will be banned. Only claims substantiated by actual emission reductions remain permissible.
What happens with an unsubstantiated green claim?+
Unsubstantiated environmental claims are misleading and can be targeted with warning letters as well as pursued by authorities. Fines are possible.
Is an in-house label enough as evidence?+
Self-awarded labels without independent verification will no longer count as sufficient evidence. Recognized certifications or verifiable data are required.
Related compliance modules
The EU Organic Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2018/848) governs the conditions under which products may be advertised as or
The EU packaging regulation PPWR (Regulation (EU) 2025/40) replaces the previous directive and harmonizes the labeling o
The EU Energy Label Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/1369) requires the energy efficiency class of many products to be v
The Right to Repair Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/1799) strengthens the repairability of products. Retailers must infor