EU Council Approves New Rules Combating Greenwashing in Services, Products
Earlier this week, the European Council announced that it had made its decision on proposals focused on protecting consumers from greenwashing. In its agreement, the council set the requirements for companies to prove and verify labels and claims on the environmental attributes of their services and products.
The decision also reflects the council’s position on the Green Claims Directive, which was introduced by the European Commission last year. The directive’s aim was to address the need for verifiable and reliable information for consumers.
This comes after recent research determined that over one-half of green claims by companies in the European Union were misleading or vague while 40% of the claims were unfounded.
The directive includes minimum requirements for companies to prove, verify and communicate their green claims, compelling businesses to ensure the reliability of their claims with proven scientific evidence. It also targeted the increase in private labels, requiring that they be regularly reviewed, independently verified and transparent.
The Green Claims Directive is part of a package of circular economy-focused, consumer-oriented environmental proposals by the European Union Commission. In its statement, the European Council proposed some changes to be made to the directive. This included making climate-related claims such as net-zero or carbon neutral while offsetting greenhouse-gas emissions via carbon credits.
The proposal made by the commission focused on specifying if the offsets were associated with emission reductions or removals and required that offsets used be classified separately from reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions.
On the other hand, the position of the council differentiates between contribution claims that use carbon credits to contribute to climate action and offset claims that use carbon credits to balance out emissions in order to hit net zero. It also requires that offset claims demonstrate progress toward decarbonization and communicate the percentage total of emissions offset thus far.
Parliament’s position, as of March this year, bans green claims based on carbon offsetting schemes but permits companies to mention carbon-removal schemes and offsetting in their ads if they use the schemes mainly for residual emissions and if they have decreased emissions to the greatest extent.
From the above, we can see that the position of the council affords companies more flexibility in comparison to the proposals made by the commission, which would require any green claim to be substantiated by third-party independent experts. Under the council, the need to verify ecolabeling schemes would also be exempt in the European Union, as long as companies complied with the new rules.
For entities that focus on the production of metals to facilitate the shift to more sustainable economies, such as Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF), the likelihood of greenwashing their products is minimal.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/RFLXF
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the ESGWireNews website applicable to all content provided by ESG, wherever published or re-published: https://www.ESGWireNews.com/Disclaimer
Earlier this week, the European Council announced that it had made its decision on proposals focused on protecting consumers from greenwashing. In its agreement, the council set the requirements for companies to prove and verify labels and claims on the environmental attributes of their services and products.
The decision also reflects the council’s position on the Green Claims Directive, which was introduced by the European Commission last year. The directive’s aim was to address the need for verifiable and reliable information for consumers.
This comes after recent research determined that over one-half of green claims by companies in the European Union were misleading or vague while 40% of the claims were unfounded.
The directive includes minimum requirements for companies to prove, verify and communicate their green claims, compelling businesses to ensure the reliability of their claims with proven scientific evidence. It also targeted the increase in private labels, requiring that they be regularly reviewed, independently verified and transparent.
The Green Claims Directive is part of a package of circular economy-focused, consumer-oriented environmental proposals by the European Union Commission. In its statement, the European Council proposed some changes to be made to the directive. This included making climate-related claims such as net-zero or carbon neutral while offsetting greenhouse-gas emissions via carbon credits.
The proposal made by the commission focused on specifying if the offsets were associated with emission reductions or removals and required that offsets used be classified separately from reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions.
On the other hand, the position of the council differentiates between contribution claims that use carbon credits to contribute to climate action and offset claims that use carbon credits to balance out emissions in order to hit net zero. It also requires that offset claims demonstrate progress toward decarbonization and communicate the percentage total of emissions offset thus far.
Parliament’s position, as of March this year, bans green claims based on carbon offsetting schemes but permits companies to mention carbon-removal schemes and offsetting in their ads if they use the schemes mainly for residual emissions and if they have decreased emissions to the greatest extent.
From the above, we can see that the position of the council affords companies more flexibility in comparison to the proposals made by the commission, which would require any green claim to be substantiated by third-party independent experts. Under the council, the need to verify ecolabeling schemes would also be exempt in the European Union, as long as companies complied with the new rules.
For entities that focus on the production of metals to facilitate the shift to more sustainable economies, such as Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF), the likelihood of greenwashing their products is minimal.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/RFLXF
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the ESGWireNews website applicable to all content provided by ESG, wherever published or re-published: https://www.ESGWireNews.com/Disclaimer
