EmpCo: New Requirements for Environmental and Sustainability Claims
Oct 09, 2026With the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (EmpCo) – Directive (EU) 2024/825 – the requirements for environmental and sustainability communication in the European Union have been significantly strengthened.
In Germany, the Directive has been implemented through the Third Act Amending the Act Against Unfair Competition (BGBl. 2026 I No. 43, promulgated on 19 February 2026). The new rules have applied across the EU since 27 September 2026. No general transitional period is provided.
For so-called old stock, however, European consumer protection authorities have published principles for coherent and proportionate enforcement. These particularly concern products or packaging bearing environmental claims or sustainability labels that were manufactured, ordered, distributed or placed on the market before 27 September 2026.
The objective of the new rules is to provide consumers with better protection against misleading environmental information and to increase the transparency and substantiation of voluntary environmental and sustainability claims.
EmpCo's scope is not limited to individual terms or advertising statements. The rules cover different forms of environmental communication – from general environmental claims and climate-related statements to future environmental performance claims and sustainability labels.
General Environmental Claims Subject to Stricter Requirements
Terms such as “environmentally friendly,” “green,” “ecological,” “climate-friendly” or comparable general environmental claims are subject to stricter requirements.
A claim is considered a general environmental claim where its specific meaning is not clearly and prominently specified on the same medium. Such a general environmental claim is prohibited where no recognized excellent environmental performance relevant to the specific claim can be demonstrated. This may include, for example, the EU Ecolabel, officially recognized Type I environmental labels under EN ISO 14024 such as the Blue Angel, or top environmental performance in accordance with other applicable Union law.
This makes the distinction between a broad environmental message and a specific, verifiable statement increasingly important.
Specific Requirements for Climate and Offsetting Claims
EmpCo also introduces specific requirements for product-related statements concerning greenhouse gas emissions.
The provisions cover claims based on the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions which state that a product or service has a neutral, reduced or positive environmental impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. The reference to offsetting outside the value chain is further explained in Recital 12 of the Directive.
Statements such as “climate neutral,” “CO₂ neutral” or “climate compensated” may therefore be affected where the claimed climate impact is based on offsetting outside the value chain.
This must be distinguished from factual information about the support of climate protection projects. According to the current Questions & Answers published by the European Commission, companies may continue to communicate about investments in environmental and climate protection projects, including carbon credit projects, provided that such communication is transparent and not misleading and does not create the impression that the product concerned has a neutral, reduced or positive climate impact as a result of offsetting.
Future Environmental Performance Claims Are Also Covered
The new requirements also apply to statements concerning future environmental performance, for example long-term reduction targets, climate targets or net-zero commitments.
Such statements are subject to a closely defined regulatory framework. They must be based on clear, objective, publicly available and verifiable commitments set out in a detailed and realistic implementation plan. This plan must include, among other things, measurable and time-bound targets as well as information on implementation, including the resources allocated for this purpose.
Progress must be regularly verified by an independent external expert, and the expert’s findings must be made available to consumers.
A statement about future environmental performance must therefore be distinguished from the actual achievement of the respective target.
Sustainability Labels in Focus
Another key area of the EmpCo framework concerns sustainability labels.
The term is broadly understood and can include voluntary trust marks or quality labels that convey positive environmental or social characteristics of a product, service or business activity.
A certification scheme underlying such a label must, in particular, be open and non-discriminatory. Its requirements must be developed with the involvement of experts and relevant stakeholders. Procedures must also be in place for dealing with non-compliance with the scheme requirements, including the possibility of withdrawing or suspending the label.
Compliance with the scheme requirements must be monitored by an independent third party whose competence and independence are based on international, Union or national standards and procedures.
According to the European Commission’s FAQ, the owner of the certification scheme and the assessing or certifying body must also be legally separate entities.
This further increases the importance of clearly defined certification schemes and independent third-party assessment. Such schemes provide a defined framework within which criteria, assessment scope and monitoring can be transparently established.
No. An existing certification does not automatically result in general EmpCo compliance.
A certificate confirms conformity with the requirements that form the subject of the respective certification procedure.
This also applies to established management system certifications such as ISO 14001 or ISO 50001. ISO 14001 certification confirms conformity of an environmental management system with the requirements of that standard; ISO 50001 similarly relates to an energy management system.
It should also be noted that, under ISO/IEC 17021-1, management system certification marks may not be used on products or on product packaging visible to consumers in a manner that could be understood as indicating product conformity.
However, this does not automatically mean that a specific environmental or climate-related statement made by the certified organisation has been assessed against the requirements of EmpCo or the applicable national unfair competition legislation.
EmpCo does not establish a general certification through which all environmental and sustainability communication of an organisation can be broadly confirmed as “EmpCo compliant.”
The regulatory assessment depends on the respective statement, its subject matter and the specific context in which it is communicated. Likewise, the accreditation of a certification body does not in itself mean that every certificate issued by that body can automatically be understood as evidence of EmpCo compliance.
This does not mean that certification or independent assessment becomes less relevant under the new regulatory framework. On the contrary: the more clearly it is defined what was assessed, against which requirements, and what statement is supported by the result, the more robust the respective evidence becomes.
Certificate, Data Basis and Statement (“Claim”) Are Different Levels
When assessing environmental communication, it is important to distinguish between three different levels:
- the underlying environmental or greenhouse gas information,
- the subject and result of an independent assessment or certification, and
- the statement derived from that information for communication purposes.
These three levels are not automatically identical.
For example, an independently verified Product Carbon Footprint may provide robust information on a defined product-related greenhouse gas value. This does not automatically mean that every related statement such as “climate-friendly,” “CO₂ reduced” or “sustainable” was also part of the verification.
Where clearly defined data, statements, products, management systems or certification schemes can be assessed against specified requirements, certification, validation and verification can provide a robust basis for environmental and sustainability information.
Depending on the assessment subject, this may include:
- certification of a management system,
- validation or verification of greenhouse gas information,
- independent assessment of a Product Carbon Footprint,
- product-related certification, or
- sustainability labels based on transparent certification schemes with independent third-party assessment.
Cross-Border Application within the EU
The EmpCo requirements apply across the European Union through the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. Certification, validation and verification schemes may therefore, in principle, also be used across borders, provided that they meet the applicable requirements regarding transparency, competence and independence.
However, the Directive does not provide for automatic mutual recognition of individual certificates, as well as validation or verification results as evidence that a specific environmental or sustainability statement is legally permissible. What remains decisive is the scope of the respective assessment or certification result and whether the specific communication complies with the applicable legal requirements.
Conclusion
EmpCo significantly changes the regulatory framework for environmental and sustainability communication. General environmental claims, climate-neutrality and offsetting claims, future environmental performance claims and sustainability labels are now subject to stricter requirements.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for “EmpCo compliance”. Existing ISO certifications or other certificates are not automatically EmpCo compliant simply because they exist. At the same time, the new requirements increase the importance of transparent evidence and independent assessment. Certification, validation and verification, as well as sustainability labels based on qualified certification schemes, can all play an important role in this context.
The decisive point remains what subject was assessed, against which requirements, and which specific statement is actually supported by the respective result. On this basis, independent conformity assessment can make an important contribution to the reliability of environmental information.