Advertising with Environmental Claims: Stricter Regulations Planned
Berlin (dpa) – In the future, stricter regulations for products and services with environmental claims such as “climate-friendly” or “biodegradable” will also apply in Germany. The Justice Ministry in Berlin has published a corresponding law to implement EU law. The German Parliament would need to approve the changes.
Future claims to come with implementation plan
It is often unclear what is behind environmental claims, explained Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig. “We want to change that: advertising with environmental claims should in the future require that the claim can also be substantiated.”
General statements such as “sustainable” or “environmentally friendly” should not be allowed to refer to the entire product if they only apply to a partial aspect of the advertised product. Advertising claims such as “by 2030 all our packaging will be fully recyclable” must be accompanied by a realistic, publicly accessible implementation plan.
Labels should become less arbitrary
It should become impermissible to advertise a product or service, such as a streaming service, as “climate-neutral” if climate neutrality is achieved through the purchase of CO2 certificates. Climate-neutral means that no more greenhouse gases are emitted than are bound again elsewhere, for example through reforestation projects.
Ecological or social sustainability labels should no longer be simply awarded by the provider itself, but must be established by the state or based on a certification system that is verified by third parties.
The EU directive on this came into force last year. According to the Federal Environment Agency, member states must implement the directive by the end of March 2026.
Advertising for certain products to be banned
Products that are deliberately manufactured to have a limited shelf life may no longer be advertised by companies if a business owner is aware of this. This would apply, for example, to sellers of electrical appliances who know that a manufacturer has intentionally installed parts of poor quality so that consumers have to replace their devices more frequently.
In addition, there will be new rules against the manipulative design of online sites or apps. Specifically, it concerns the influence when concluding financial service contracts. For example, when there are multiple options, one may no longer be graphically highlighted. It will also be prohibited to repeatedly prompt consumers to make a selection, even though they have already made that selection. Furthermore, the process for signing up and terminating a service must be comparably designed. Therefore, canceling a service should not be more difficult than signing up. (July 7)
