The EU’s New Green Claims Directive – It’s Not Easy Being Green
Highlights
On March 22, 2023, the European Commission proposed the Green Claims Directive, which is intended to make green claims reliable, comparable and verifiable across the EU and protect consumers from greenwashing
Adding to the momentum generated by other EU green initiatives, this directive could be the catalyst that also spurs the U.S. to approve stronger regulatory enforcement mechanisms to crackdown on greenwashing
This proposed directive overlaps the FTC’s request for comments on its Green Guides, including whether the agency should initiate a rulemaking to establish enforceable requirements related to unfair and deceptive environmental claims. The deadline for comments has been extended to April 24, 2023
The European Commission (EC) proposed the Green Claims Directive (GCD) on March 22, 2023, to crack down on greenwashing and prevent businesses from misleading customers about the environmental characteristics of their products and services. This action was in response, at least in part, to a 2020 commission study that found more than 50 percent of green labels made environmental claims that were “vague, misleading or unfounded,” and 40 percent of these claims were “unsubstantiated.”
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