https://www.ft.com/content/53f84f03-1f1c-4240-977f-9de0e4893377
"The EU will ban sweeping environmental claims such as “climate neutral” or
“eco” by 2026 unless companies can prove the claim is accurate, as the bloc
cracks down on greenwashing of consumer products.
The rules, agreed late Tuesday, will also outlaw claims based on emissions
offsetting — often used as the basis for assertions that products are carbon
neutral or have reduced environmental impact — along with green labels that are
not from approved sustainability schemes.
The change, due to come into force by 2026, would make the EU the toughest
region of the world in terms of its approach to green claims made to the
public. It still requires approval from the EU parliament and member states,
but it is rare for EU lawmakers to refuse that approval.
“We are clearing the chaos of environmental claims,” said the socialist
lawmaker Biljana Borzan, who led negotiations for the European parliament on
the law.
The rules say “generic environmental claims” that could be banned include
phrases such as “green”, “nature’s friend”, “energy efficient” and
“biodegradable”, unless the products can demonstrate “excellent environmental
performance”.
Climate NGOs have long pointed to misleading claims made across consumer
sectors. In October, Carbon Market Watch published an investigation of the
claim by the 2022 Fifa World Cup to be “carbon neutral”, saying that the
organisers’ estimate of emissions from the event in Qatar did not “accurately
represent the tournament’s actual footprint”.
Lindsay Otis, policy expert on global carbon markets at Carbon Market Watch,
said the EU agreement was “a big step towards more honest commercial practices
and more informed European consumers”.
“A ban on carbon neutral claims is great news for consumers. There is no such
thing as ‘carbon neutral’ or ‘CO₂ neutral’ cheese, plastic bottles, flights or
bank accounts,” said Ursula Pachl, deputy director of the European consumer
organisation BEUC.
“Carbon neutral claims are greenwashing . . . The truth is that these claims
are scientifically incorrect and should never be used.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
