Claims rule
Applies to business-to-consumer claims about products in the EU, under Directive (EU) 2024/825Source 1.
The EU has changed the rules on green claims. A business can no longer tell consumers that a product is climate neutral, or has a reduced or positive climate impact, because it bought carbon credits. It can still buy credits, and it can still say what it funded. This page explains what changed, when, and what to say instead. It is part of our claims and rules section.
Key dates
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| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 28 Feb 2024 | Directive signed in Strasbourg |
| 6 Mar 2024 | Published in the Official Journal (OJ L, 2024/825) |
| 27 Mar 2026 | Deadline for member states to adopt and publish national rules |
| 27 Sept 2026 | Member states apply the rules |
As of Oct 2026 · Source: [1] Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition
The directive amends the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Consumer Rights DirectiveSource 1. It entered into force on the twentieth day after publication, and member states had until 27 March 2026 to write it into national law and must apply it from 27 September 2026Source 1.
What the directive bans
The directive adds new items to Annex I of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, the list of practices that are unfair in all circumstancesSource 1. Three of them concern environmental claims:
- Generic environmental claims the trader can’t back with recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim (point 4a).
- Claims about the whole product or business when they concern only one aspect of it (point 4b).
- Offset-based claims: claiming, based on the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions, that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive impact on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions (point 4c)Source 1.
The directive explains why offset-based claims are singled out. It says such claims should only be allowed when they are based on the actual lifecycle impact of the product, not on offsetting emissions outside the product’s value chain, because the two are not equivalentSource 1.
What you can and can’t say
Examples only, not legal advice
Don’t say (when based on offsets):
- “Carbon neutral product”
- “Climate positive delivery”
- “Net zero shipping”
Say instead:
- “We funded [number] tonnes of verified removals through [project]”, with a link to the registry record
- “We contributed to [project type] projects in [country]”
- “We’re cutting our shipping emissions by [target] by [year]”, if that is your actual plan
The directive gives “climate neutral”, “CO₂ neutral certified”, “carbon positive”, “climate net zero”, “climate compensated”, “reduced climate impact” and “limited CO₂ footprint” as examples of the kind of claim it meansSource 1.
The directive is explicit that the ban shouldn’t stop companies from advertising their investments in environmental initiatives, including carbon credit projects, as long as they present that information in a way that isn’t misleadingSource 1. A factual description of what you funded stays allowed.
Does it apply to me?
The new rules sit in EU consumer protection law, so they cover claims businesses make to consumers about their productsSource 1. If you sell to consumers in the EU and make environmental claims about your products, check them against the new list. Claims made only to other businesses fall outside the consumer rules, though national laws and other EU rules can still apply.
Individuals aren’t affected. You can still buy and retire credits for your own flights or footprint and say so.
What businesses should do now
- Audit your claims. List every place a product is described as neutral, compensated, positive or similar, including packaging, websites and adverts.
- Remove offset-based product claims. Replace them with factual statements of what you funded, as in the examples above.
- Keep the evidence. Record the tonnes retired, the project, the standard and the registry link for anything you say.
- Separate reductions from credits. Report your own emission cuts separately from the credits you buy. The Oxford Offsetting Principles warn that “carbon neutral” has come to be read as a less rigorous, interim claimSource 3.
- Use a recognised claims framework for anything more ambitious. VCMI’s Claims Code asks companies to set reduction targets first and then buy high-quality credits from outside their value chainSource 4.
Why the EU acted
The directive says it aims to stop misleading environmental claims and to help consumers choose products that are genuinely better for the environmentSource 1. It treats offset-based neutrality claims as misleading because offsetting emissions outside a product’s value chain is not the same as reducing the product’s own lifecycle impactSource 1. The European Commission’s green claims page states that 53% of green claims give vague, misleading or unfounded information, and that 40% of claims have no supporting evidenceSource 2. The ban on offset-based neutrality claims is one part of a wider effort to make environmental claims checkable.
What comes next
A separate proposal, the Green Claims Directive, would set rules for how environmental claims must be substantiated and verified. The European Commission adopted it in March 2023 and lists its status as pendingSource 2. The ban described on this page already applies without it.
For a wider look at the language of neutrality claims in the EU, UK and US, read carbon neutral claims. Large EU companies also report the credits they use under the CSRD, and the VCMI Claims Code sets out a voluntary framework for credible credit claims. If you buy credits for a business, our guides for small businesses and companies cover the buying side.