The transition to a environmentally sustainable environment is largely dependent on people making educated choices that are based on reliable environmental statements. The prevalence of greenwashing in which goods make false claims about environmental sustainability with no evidence to back it up, results in an enigma of false statements for the consumer.

With the present landscape of green claims that are emerging, confidence in the claims of environmentalists has been eroded by the shakiness of these claims. Studies have shown that 94 percent of Europeans have a personal stake in protecting the environment. the majority of them acknowledge that their habits have a negative impact on the environment. To illustrate the complexity of the matter There are 100 eco-friendly energy labels across the EU. The analysis of these figures shows the fact that 53 percent of the green labels provide false information 40% of them lack evidence-based backing, and a quarter remain unconfirmed. For this reason, consumers want reliable, verifiable and accurate information.

EU’s response: the directive on green claims

In light of the growing pattern of green claims coming under review and scrutiny, as well as the recently-approved adopting of Circular Economy Action Program (CEAP) which was adopted by the EU is introducing the first law that addresses claims that are green. Its goal is to bring back trust and transparency in green claims that ultimately benefit both business and consumers. Customers will have access to greater information and more trustworthy data, which will enable them to select environmentally-friendly products. Businesses are rewarded for their honest efforts to increase the sustainableness of their products.

The green claim directive is designed to tackle four major factors:

• First, it aims to establish green claims that are trustworthy that are comparable, verifiable, and comparable across the EU.
• It also aims to protect consumers from the effects of being swindled by greenwashing.
• In addition, it aids in the creation of a circular and sustainable EU economy through empowering customers to make better buying decisions.
• In the end, it aims at the establishment of a level playing field for the sustainability of the products.

A key element to make claims about green more credible, comparable and valid across the EU involves establishing clear standards for businesses to back up their environmental claims as well as labels. This aligns with an additional EU initiative, which is the ecodesign for sustainable product. The initiative provides a framework to establish eco-design specifications for particular product categories that aim to significantly improve the circularity of their products, energy efficiency along with other environmental aspects of sustainability. One of these is the requirement to include environmental footprinting on the products.

PEF-Methodology: a standardisation of the environmental impact assessment

The European Commission has put forward the Product Environmental Footprint methods as an approach to standardizing the environmental impact of a product. Businesses that want to mark their products as green within the EU have a variety of options and methods.

This PEF technique is a tried and true EU method based on Life Cycle Assessments. It measures the impact on the environment of products through evaluating its whole lifecycle starting from the initial beginning with the raw material extraction process to ending it. With 16 different categories for environmental impacts The PEF methodology serves as the basis for supporting the green claims of items in a thorough method that is based on science.

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