‘Companies Need To Prove Environmental Efforts’: EU Fights Green Washing Claims With Directive
The EU is attempting to fight greenwashing through a directive that would make companies substantiate and independently verify environmental claims that they make about their consumer products and services, and the Malta Business Bureau (MBB) agrees.
“Businesses are voluntarily investing in initiatives that improve the efficiency of their operations and reduce their environmental impact. At the same time, there has been a rise in claims that are somehow vague or very difficult to quantify in practice. Such claims make it challenging for consumers to reliably compare between sustainability credentials and create an uneven playing field at the expense of companies that invest to properly substantiate their claims,” MBB president Alison Mizzi said.
The Green Claims Directive aims to oblige businesses to substantiate their environmental claims against a set of tangible criteria. For instance, companies would have to specify whether the claim applies to the whole product/service or just a part of it; provide scientific evidence to back it up; demonstrate significant environmental impacts from a lifecycle perspective; and more.
There are even stricter requirements being proposed for claims that compare products and services with those of other competitors, to ensure fairness.
Some environmental claims are not reliable, and consumer trust in them is extremely low. Consumers can be misled, and companies can give a false impression of their environmental impacts or benefits – a practice known as greenwashing. This is why the directive was drafted; to address greenwashing as well as protect consumers and the environment.
The directive proposes a national body within each member state that will be tasked to accredit verifiers to carry out assessments. Verifiers must be independent from the businesses they are supplying their services to and must have the appropriate infrastructure and qualifications to carry out verification.
Once a claim is successfully verified, a conformity certificate which can be used all throughout the EU will be issued to the business making the claim.
Moreover, the MBB met up to discuss this directive and see how this would affect Malta and its businesses.
MEP Cyrus Engerer was present at this conference and he highlighted hs priorities on this proposal a co-Rapporteur for the ENVI committee within the European Parliament. Salient issues include regular revisions of environmental labelling schemes, incentivizing the use of primary information, and clarifying vague terms in the proposal, among others.
Meanwhile, The Malta Chamber Policy Executive (Sustainability) Gabby Grech Larsson delivered the organisation’s perspective on the proposal, seeing it as a keyway to ensure the proper scientific substantiation of environmental claims and prevent greenwashing. Ms Grech highlighted how recent EU data shows that almost half of green claims are completely unsubstantiated.
“The proposal for a Green Claims Directive is a key file to further reliable information to consumers in the green transition. The MBB has been working closely with national and EU policymakers to put forward the views and concerns of Maltese businesses,” the MBB stated.
Environmental labelling schemes have emerged as an attractive avenue for businesses to promote the sustainability credentials of their products and services. To avoid the promotion of excessive unregulated schemes, the Commission is proposing a ban on new schemes by member states. Existing schemes, and schemes from outside the EU may be allowed if they comply with the requirements under this Directive and are approved by the Commission.
This action was co-financed by the European Union in the frame of the European Parliament’s grant programme in the field of communication. The European Parliament was not involved in its preparation and is, in no case, responsible for or bound by the information or opinions expressed in the context of this action. In accordance with applicable law, the authors, interviewed people, publishers or programme broadcasters are solely responsible. The European Parliament can also not be held liable for direct or indirect damage that may result from the implementation of the action.
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