Una norma para que las apariencias no engañen: la UE legisla contra el 'greenwashing'

The European Union has approved a landmark directive to combat greenwashing by standardizing sustainability criteria. This measure aims to protect consumers and ensure fair competition among businesses, requiring member states to transpose these rules within a short timeframe. The primary objective is to ensure that the market evolves toward genuine transparency, where the term "eco-friendly" is not used arbitrarily to gain competitive advantages without tangible backing. The legislation specifically prohibits the use of generic environmental claims, such as "green" or "organic," when they are not supported by excellent and recognized ecological performance. It also restricts messages implying exclusive use of renewable energy or climate neutrality based solely on external offsets, requiring that such statements reflect the actual impact of the product's lifecycle. Additionally, sustainability labels lacking official certifications are banned, eliminating the ambiguity that allows companies to mislead about their true environmental footprint. This framework is crucial in the fight against greenwashing because it dismantles the strategy of using sustainability as mere marketing hype. By leveling the playing field, the regulation rewards companies that genuinely commit to their environmental pledges and penalizes those that use deception to reposition their brands. This strengthens public trust and ensures that citizens' purchasing decisions effectively contribute to the ecological transition, eliminating fraud that distorts the market and harms those who invest in truly sustainable practices.

Source: elmundo.es
Published on 2024-03-27

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