{"id":279736,"date":"2023-09-21T11:02:17","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T09:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=279736"},"modified":"2023-09-21T11:02:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T09:02:20","slug":"eu-reaches-deal-banning-climate-neutral-product-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=279736","title":{"rendered":"EU reaches deal banning \u2018climate-neutral\u2019 product\u00a0claims"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Tallbloke’s Talkshop<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 21, 2023 by\u00a0oldbrew<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Game over by 2026?
[image credit: climateneutral.org]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nonsense of climate greenwashing takes a hit, starting 2026.<\/em>
\u2013 \u2013 \u2013
In the wake of longstanding complaints of greenwashing by consumer advocates, EU institutions finalised a new law on Tuesday (19 September) enacting a sweeping ban to combat the misleading of its citizens through erroneous claims of sustainability, reports Euractiv<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2022, the European Commission proposed a law to empower consumers, which, following the conclusion of negotiations between EU countries and Parliament, will now ban companies from claiming that their products are climate-neutral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have achieved an excellent deal for consumers,\u201d said the S&D\u2019s Biljana Borzan, a Croatian EU lawmaker who spearheaded the negotiations on behalf of Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law, which still requires final approval by EU countries and the parliament\u2019s plenary assembly \u2013 a formality \u2013 will be felt from 2026, as EU countries will be given two years\u2019 time to adopt the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenwashing, the practice of making misleading claims as to a product\u2019s climate friendliness, is expected to cease rather quickly. \u201cWe are clearing the chaos of environmental claims, which will now have to be substantiated, and claims based on emissions offsetting will be banned,\u201d said Borzan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In practice, the changes will mean that companies are effectively prohibited from making such claims altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no such thing as \u2018carbon-neutral\u2019 or \u2018CO2 neutral\u2019 cheese, plastic bottles, flights or bank accounts. Carbon-neutral claims are greenwashing, plain and simple,\u201d said Ursula Pachl, the deputy director of EU consumer advocates BEUC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frequent fliers may soon notice changes in airlines\u2019 booking interfaces, where suspiciously cheap carbon offsetting offers will no longer be allowed to sell \u201cclimate-neutral\u201d flying. After all, carbon offsetting is a practice reviled by activists for the rampant fraud in the industry and its non-permanent nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe EU is sending a powerful signal to the voluntary carbon market: the era of offsetting is over,\u201d said Gilles Dufrasne, policy lead at Carbon Market Watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new law will also firm up rules around environmental claims, which will have to be backed by proof of recognised performance. Widespread product affixes like \u201cEco\u201d and \u201cnatural\u201d will need to be backed by solid evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe agreement is good news for all who want to shop sustainably,\u201d cheered Anna Cavazzini, a green EU lawmaker in charge of the consumer protection committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full report\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A new EU law that’ll ban companies from making misleading “climate-neutral” claims has been agreed in Brussels. [European Parliament\/Alexis HAULOT]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The nonsense of climate greenwashing takes a hit, starting 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":279741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691822828,691822827,691818076,691819303,691819451],"class_list":["post-279736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-climate-neutral-flying","tag-beuc","tag-co2","tag-european-commission","tag-greenwashing","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0cn-logo-hero-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C673&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1aLS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":410844,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=410844","url_meta":{"origin":279736,"position":0},"title":"Greenwashing Is Not a Glitch \u2013 It Has Become the System","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/29\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Let\u2019s get one thing straight:\u00a0nothing\u00a0is or can ever be \u201cnet-zero.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In \"\u201cgreen\u201d solution\"","block_context":{"text":"\u201cgreen\u201d solution","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=green-solution-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQMDwrIa0MWQhe8ZPNH2fTI-zF8UVJP-kpMHgeUukyHJEyP5AKXd44jh5S1-TEIRdtKX7GLIuQfTg0zRDAQHqUcaTS2Wd4oNf_hTxZbLqFke7jO4tJzEx8TKm3S4gQm_-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C695&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQMDwrIa0MWQhe8ZPNH2fTI-zF8UVJP-kpMHgeUukyHJEyP5AKXd44jh5S1-TEIRdtKX7GLIuQfTg0zRDAQHqUcaTS2Wd4oNf_hTxZbLqFke7jO4tJzEx8TKm3S4gQm_-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C695&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQMDwrIa0MWQhe8ZPNH2fTI-zF8UVJP-kpMHgeUukyHJEyP5AKXd44jh5S1-TEIRdtKX7GLIuQfTg0zRDAQHqUcaTS2Wd4oNf_hTxZbLqFke7jO4tJzEx8TKm3S4gQm_-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C695&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQMDwrIa0MWQhe8ZPNH2fTI-zF8UVJP-kpMHgeUukyHJEyP5AKXd44jh5S1-TEIRdtKX7GLIuQfTg0zRDAQHqUcaTS2Wd4oNf_hTxZbLqFke7jO4tJzEx8TKm3S4gQm_-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C695&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQMDwrIa0MWQhe8ZPNH2fTI-zF8UVJP-kpMHgeUukyHJEyP5AKXd44jh5S1-TEIRdtKX7GLIuQfTg0zRDAQHqUcaTS2Wd4oNf_hTxZbLqFke7jO4tJzEx8TKm3S4gQm_-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C695&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":286427,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=286427","url_meta":{"origin":279736,"position":1},"title":"COP28 Organisers Already Accused of Greenwashing","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"11\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"As the world grapples with the escalating urgency of climate change, the United Nations\u2019 upcoming COP28 climate summit finds itself entangled in a web of controversy. 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