The trials and tribulations of the Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCM) over the past 12 months have been well covered in NordSIP, including in this column. Many of the carbon credits and offsets underpinning vast amounts of net-zero and sustainability claims were found to be based on dodgy methodology at best and deliberate double-counting at worst. Phantom or dubious carbon credits were being used to justify sustainability claims for everything from small retail items to large airline companies and even the so-called “carbon neutral” 2022 football World Cup in Qatar. Despite subsequent efforts by the VCMs to improve standards and restore confidence in the idea of offsetting, the European Union (EU) appears to have lost patience. A new EU directive aims to outlaw the use of carbon offsets in relation to any commercial sustainability claims.
Amendment to 2005/29/EC & 2011/83/EU is a fun read – really!
Although EU directives are usually best used as bedtime reading for insomniacs, this one is music to the Laundromat’s ears. Its executive summary could well read: “Cut the crap.” The authors have used plain language and provided multiple practical examples, leaving little or no wriggle room for would-be greenwashers. With respect to offsetting, the directive states: “It is particularly important to prohibit claims, based on greenhouse gas emissions offsetting, that a product, either a good or service, has a neutral, reduced, or positive impact on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.” In what could turn into a good game of Buzzword Bingo, the EU legislators provide examples of the typical terms used by unscrupulous companies in an offsetting scenario. These include climate neutral, CO2 neutral certified, carbon positive, climate net-zero, climate compensated, reduced climate impact, and limited CO2 footprint.
The directive does not only address carbon offsetting. It is aimed at all aspects of greenwashing as well as other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) related marketing claims. For instance, it clamps down on the use of misleading terms like “recyclable,” a particular Laundromat bugbear. Such claims will have to be backed up by full information for the end user, which will come as particularly bad news for the likes of Tetra Pak when they read: “In order for consumers to be empowered to take better-informed decisions and thus stimulate the demand for, and the supply of, more sustainable goods, they should not be misled about a product’s environmental or social characteristics or circularity aspects, such as durability, reparability or recyclability, through the overall presentation of the products.”
Eco-friendly – how exactly? I’ll wait.
The attack on green buzzwords continues with the EU taking aim at products claiming to be environmentally friendly, eco-friendly, green, nature’s friend, ecological, environmentally correct, climate friendly, gentle on the environment, carbon friendly, energy efficient, biodegradable, or biobased without clear product-specific substantiation. The directive also sets out rules for the use of sustainability standards and certification, which need to be legitimate, verifiable, and accessible to all traders.
Aside from spurious greenwashing marketing practices, the directive also addresses the sustainability characteristics inherent in product design and longevity. This includes physical durability, but the EU legislators leave no stone unturned in also including digital and electronic products. Consumers must be properly informed about the expected life span of digital goods and software licences. There is also a clause prohibiting the practice of surreptitiously rendering electronic products obsolete via firmware updates – yes that means you, Apple!
This type of straight-talking legislation may mean that the Laundromat could struggle to find new subject matter to rant about as the EU member states implement the new greenwashing rules over the coming two years. That will be, as they say, a nice problem to have.
