In an overwhelming 544 in favor, 18 against and 17 abstentions, vote, discussed in this article, the EU Parliament supported a new rule that
- Bans the use of generic environmental claims, such as ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘natural’, ‘biodegradable’ or ‘eco’ if not supported by evidence;
- Bans green claims about whole products when only a part is sustainable;
- Only allows sustainability labels based on official certification schemes recognized or established by public authorities (ie, no more self-certification).
For organizations custom-building and self-certifying their sustainability claims, this move will force a choice between abandonment of claims or certification under a legitimate 3rd party certification program.