New law brings stricter rules against greenwashing
From 27 September 2026, claims such as "climate-neutral" or "natural" will need to be backed up by evidence. Labels must either be regulated by a public authority or checked independently. Here is what this means for consumers.
- From 27 September 2026, stricter rules will apply to broad environmental claims such as "environmentally friendly" or "natural".
- Sustainability labels will only be allowed if they are regulated by a public authority or checked by an independent body. In principle, they must also be open to all companies.
- The Siegelklarheit Portal assesses sustainability labels based on how credible they are and on their environmental and social criteria. However, it does not replace a legal check of whether labels comply with the rules that apply.
"Climate-neutral", "made from 100 percent recycled plastic" or "natural": when looking for more sustainable products, we often come across green advertising claims. These messages are also known as "green claims". They use environmental statements to promote products.
This becomes a problem when a product is not actually much more environmentally friendly than comparable products. This is known as "greenwashing".
The European Commission has recognised this problem and introduced stricter rules for advertising with social and environmental claims. These rules have now also been incorporated into German law.
The new law
- The stricter rules for broad environmental claims such as “environmentally friendly” or “natural” will apply from 27 September 2026. Claims about how long products last and how easily they can be repaired will also be more strictly regulated.
- The rules are based on the new EU Directive (EU) 2024/825 "Empowering consumers for the green transition" (ECD). They have been transposed into German law through the Third Act Amending the Act Against Unfair Competition.
New rules for sustainability labels
The EU Directive also tightens the requirements for sustainability labels and label‑like symbols. For consumers, the most important point is this:
In principle, sustainability labels will only be allowed if they are
- regulated by a public authority
or - based on an independent certification system. Here, an independent body must check whether the label’s requirements are met. The requirements must be publicly available. The label must also, in principle, be open to all companies. This means, if a company meets the requirements, it should generally be able to use the label.
Under these rules, companies will no longer be able to create their own sustainability labels. They must not set the requirements themselves while also checking whether they meet them.
If a company advertises sustainability, it should be able to prove its claims:
- Look for trustworthy labels or independent audit reports.
- When looking at sustainability labels, check who is behind them and whether independent bodies verify that the requirements are met.
- Siegelklarheit can help you find your way.
Siegelklarheit assesses sustainability labels
If you would like to know how trustworthy a sustainability label is, you can find information on the Siegelklarheit Portal. The Portal assesses sustainability labels and explains clearly what is considered in the assessment.
Siegelklarheit assesses labels either:
- through a detailed assessment or
- through a quick check.
All assessments can be found in the label directory.
Good to know:
- Labels with a detailed assessment as well as labels that have fully passed the quick check, meet the basic criteria that Siegelklarheit checks in light of the new requirements of the EU Directive “Empowering consumers for the green transition” (ECD).
- However, this does not include a legal review of whether the labels comply with applicable regulations.
