New EU Green Claims Rules: Introduction
From 27 September 2026, businesses selling products and services to consumers in the European Union will face tighter rules around environmental claims, sustainability labels and future environmental promises.
The changes come from the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, Directive (EU) 2024/825. EU Member States (not including the UK post Brexit) had until 27 March 2026 to bring the Directive into national law, with the new measures applying from 27 September. Environmental claims will therefore need to be more specific, better evidenced and easier for customers to understand.
However, this is also a commercial issue, because businesses that can clearly explain what they are doing and support those claims with evidence should be in a stronger position as greenwashing comes under greater scrutiny across the world.
What the New Rules Change
The new EU green claims rules strengthen EU consumer law around generic environmental claims, misleading claims about an entire product or business, unsupported sustainability labels, future environmental promises without proper plans, and certain product-level climate claims based on offsetting.
Broad terms such as “green”, “eco-friendly”, “environmentally friendly” and “climate friendly” therefore need more care. Specific wording is usually more useful as well, because saying that packaging contains 80% recycled material gives customers something concrete to understand, whereas calling the same packaging “green” leaves far more open to interpretation.
Make Sure the Claim Matches the Evidence
Environmental claims should not suggest a bigger benefit than the evidence supports. If only the packaging contains recycled material, the wording should not imply that the whole product does, while renewable electricity used at one site should not be presented as though it applies across the entire business.
Businesses should therefore review websites, product pages, packaging, presentations and social media together, because customers see these channels as one joined-up message even when different teams produced them.
Get In TouchLabels and Future Promises Need Checking
The Directive also tightens the rules around sustainability labels and future environmental claims. Businesses should understand what each badge or label represents, who created it and how compliance is checked, while future commitments such as net zero targets need to connect to credible plans, measurable targets and appropriate verification.
This changing landscape is one reason Play It Green has reviewed its own language and branding. Our workforce programme is moving to Climate Impact Workforce, while businesses that have measured their footprint, established a reduction plan and rebalanced their residual impact through Play It Green can use Climate Impact Company badges and branding.
Carbon Neutral Claims Face a Major Change
One of the most significant changes in the new EU Green Claims rules concerns claims that a product or service has a neutral, reduced or positive greenhouse-gas impact when that claim relies on offsetting emissions outside the product’s value chain.
Businesses can still fund verified nature repair, carbon-credit projects and other environmental initiatives, provided they describe that support accurately. Rather than implying that external activity has removed a product’s emissions, businesses should explain what has been funded and what verified environmental or social outcomes it supports.
For Play It Green members, this distinction is particularly important because verified nature repair remains a valuable part of climate action when it is communicated clearly and sits alongside genuine reduction work.
What This Means for the Play It Green Community
For Play It Green members, the practical response to the new EU green claims rules follows the approach we already encourage: learn about sustainability, reduce your footprint, support verified nature repair and social impact, and communicate each part clearly.
Members can find our updated language guide and Climate Impact branding in the Marketing section of the Discover tab within the members area, while Forest Garden data, project information and scientific evidence can help members explain what their nature repair has genuinely funded.
Our partnership with Catalyst Commercial provides specialist support for businesses that need stronger carbon evidence. Catalyst can produce Carbon Footprint Reports and Carbon Reduction Plans, while larger organisations can also access SECR where it applies. Although most SMEs are not legally required to report under SECR, measuring emissions and having a credible Carbon Reduction Plan are becoming increasingly important for tenders, supply chains and good business management, so Play It Green strongly recommends that all businesses take these steps even where regulation does not require them.
New EU Green Claims Rules: Wrap-Up
The new EU green claims rules raise the standard for environmental communication from 27 September 2026, with generic language, weak labels, unsupported future promises and offset-based product claims all receiving greater scrutiny.
For Play It Green customers, now is a good time to review the environmental language used across websites, marketing and sales material, replace outdated Play It Green branding with the new Climate Impact assets where relevant, and use the language guide in Discover to check that claims accurately describe the action being taken.
If your business has not yet measured its footprint or created a Carbon Reduction Plan, we strongly recommend taking that next step, particularly as credible carbon evidence becomes more important for tenders, supply chains and customer expectations. Play It Green can connect members with Catalyst Commercial for the specialist support required.
Clearer regulation should favour businesses that can evidence genuine progress, so acting now can strengthen customer trust, commercial credibility and readiness for changing expectations at the same time.
Create Commercial Value with Play It Green
Play It Green helps businesses make sustainability practical, measurable and commercially sensible.
Our members learn through simple weekly education like this article on the new EU green claims rules, reduce their footprint with support and expert signposting, repair nature across land, coast and sea, and create social impact through our 10% revenue giveback to good causes.
That gives your business credible action you can share with employees, customers and other stakeholders, backed by transparent reporting and measurable impact.
If you want to cut costs, reduce risk, attract great people and build stronger customer loyalty through sustainability, including measurement and reduction, nature repair and social impact, speak to Play It Green.
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