During a webinar held on 12 June 2026, Ambroise Pascal, the DGCCRF’s Ecological Transition Officer, and his team addressed the key issues raised by the entry into force of Directive (EU) 2024/825, which aims to combat commercial practices amounting to greenwashing. The final section of their presentation covered claims of carbon neutrality, comparison services, brands and product names, and the issue of non-compliant stock.
Claims regarding a product’s neutral, reduced or positive impact on the environment
Directive (EU) 2024/825 prohibits claims that rely on the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions to assert that a product, good or service has a neutral, reduced or positive impact on the environment. Such claims must be based on the actual carbon footprint of the product itself, taking into account its value chain, and not on external factors relating to the company’s commitments regarding certain operations.
For example, it is prohibited to claim that a specific flight is carbon-neutral because the airline is investing in a tropical rainforest reforestation project or is involved in some form of carbon offsetting scheme. Linking these two characteristics will henceforth constitute a misleading commercial practice in all circumstances.
In practice, given that the production of any good or service has an impact, carbon neutrality can only be achieved through carbon offsetting or the purchase of carbon credits. Furthermore, there is no prohibition on a company publicising its investments in …
