Why the new greenwashing rules matter now
From 27 September 2026, marketing an ordinary product as “environmentally friendly”, “green” or “climate neutral” will be prohibited across the EU unless the company can demonstrate recognised, excellent environmental performance. The rules come from Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition, which member states must transpose by 27 March 2026.
This is not a niche sustainability rule. The directive amends the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Consumer Rights Directive, which means the new bans sit inside ordinary marketing law. In Sweden, that is the Marketing Practices Act, enforced by the Swedish Consumer Agency – with market disruption fees as the sharp end. Any business that sells to consumers and says anything at all about sustainability is in scope.
What is actually banned
Generic environmental claims
Vague claims such as “eco”, “green”, “climate friendly” or “gentle on the environment” become unfair commercial practices unless the trader can demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim. Ordinary compliance with the law is not enough.
Carbon-offset neutrality claims
Claiming that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive environmental impact because the company has bought offsets is banned outright. Companies may still buy offsets – they simply may not use them to make a neutrality claim about a product in consumer marketing.
Unverified sustainability labels
Displaying a sustainability label that is not based on a third-party certification scheme or established by a public authority becomes prohibited. Self-invented in-house labels and badges are the obvious casualty.
Claims about the whole product based on one part
Presenting a claim that concerns only one component – recycled packaging, for example – as though it applied to the entire product or the whole business is prohibited.
Presenting legal requirements as a selling point
Marketing something the law already requires as if it were a distinctive feature of your offer is also on the banned list.
Durability, repairability and software updates
The directive also tightens rules on early obsolescence. Withholding information about features that limit durability, presenting goods as repairable when they are not, or prompting consumers to replace consumables earlier than technically necessary can all be unfair practices. Traders must give clearer pre-contractual information about the legal guarantee, any commercial guarantee of durability, and how long software updates will be provided.
Practical example: a Swedish e-commerce brand
An online retailer sells a jacket labelled “Climate neutral – offset via our forestry partner” and adds a house-designed green leaf badge on the product page. After 27 September 2026 both elements are problematic: the neutrality claim rests on offsetting, and the leaf badge is a self-made sustainability label. A compliant version would instead state a specific, substantiated fact – for example, that the outer fabric is made from a defined share of recycled material, with the evidence available on request.
Common mistakes companies make
The most frequent error is assuming the rules only bite on the sustainability report. In practice, the exposure sits in product pages, packaging, ad copy and sales decks – content that marketing owns and legal rarely reviews. A close second is believing that an offset certificate makes a neutrality claim defensible. It no longer does. A third is keeping a decorative in-house eco badge because “everyone has one”.
Recommended actions before September 2026
Start with an inventory: list every environmental or social claim your business makes in consumer-facing channels, including labels, icons and taglines. Classify each claim as substantiated, fixable or unusable. Remove neutrality-by-offsetting claims and unverified labels. For the claims you keep, build a short evidence file that a regulator could read in ten minutes. Finally, put a claims-approval step into the marketing workflow so the problem does not grow back.
Frequently asked questions
Does this apply to B2B marketing?
The directive is consumer law, so it targets business-to-consumer marketing. However, misleading environmental claims towards other businesses can still be challenged under general marketing law, and B2B buyers increasingly impose the same standard contractually.
Can we still say we are climate neutral as a company?
Claims about the trader itself are treated with the same scepticism as product claims, and a neutrality claim built on offsetting is precisely what the directive targets. Be specific about what you have actually reduced, and separate that from any offsetting you do.
What are the penalties?
Penalties follow national unfair commercial practices rules. In Sweden this can mean prohibition orders combined with a penalty, and market disruption fees for serious breaches.
Is this the same as the Green Claims Directive?
No. The Green Claims Directive is a separate proposal on the substantiation and verification of explicit environmental claims and has not been adopted. Directive (EU) 2024/825 is already in force and applies from 27 September 2026 regardless of what happens to that proposal.
Conclusion
The new rules do not ask companies to stop talking about sustainability. They ask them to stop making claims they cannot prove. Businesses that begin the claims inventory now will have a calm autumn in 2026; those that wait will be rewriting product pages under pressure.
Lawgent helps companies review marketing claims, labels and product information against EU consumer law, and build the evidence files that make claims defensible. Get in touch if you would like a claims review before the September 2026 deadline.
