How T-shirts, milk and airline travel got wrapped up in EU's greenwashing fight

The EU is cracking down on greenwashing everywhere, from the supermarket shelves to the skies.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, proposed rules to tackle misleading environmental claims on everyday goods ranging from a carton of milk to T-shirts and airline travel.

Companies will need to back up with science any labelling such as “climate neutral” or “biodegradable”.

“Over the past five years, we’ve seen an increase in greenwashing,” EU Environment Minister Virginijus Sinkevicius said in an interview before the proposal.

"We want to make sure those companies who claim to be green really are. Consumers don’t want to be misled.”

It is the latest example of the EU’s efforts to be a leader on sustainability as the world grapples with climate change. The bloc is planning to be net-zero on greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and has already stepped up policing of the financial sector’s environmental claims.

The proposed rules — which will need the approval of the European Parliament and the bloc’s 27 member states — are a major step into oversight over consumer products. Companies could face financial penalties or even have their products taken off the market if they are found to be in breach of the rules, according to Mr Sinkevicius.

A 2020 survey found that more than half of products' environmental claims studied contained “vague, misleading or unfounded information”, according to the proposal.

The worst offender was clothing, with claims of T-shirts made from recycled bottles, the environment minister said. Companies also sometimes provide dubious information on carbon offsetting, he added.

“If a flight company states that it’s a climate-neutral flight, they will have to give the full information that it is offset,” Mr Sinkevicius said. “We want to avoid double-counting.”

Carbon Market Watch said the proposal fell short by failing to ban terms such as “carbon neutrality” and by making allowances for the use of carbon offsets.

“This proposal is a huge missed opportunity to send a powerful message to corporations that the EU is taking corporate climate responsibility seriously,” said Lindsay Otis, policy expert on global carbon markets at the watchdog group.