What is greenwashing? Definition and examples for businesses

In the EU, 56% of consumers agree that most environmental claims about products are reliable (Consumer Conditions Scoreboard, 2023). Yet when the European Commission checked such claims, it found 53.3% of them vague, misleading or unfounded (European Commission, 2020). Since 27 September 2026, EU consumer law bans the most common of these claims. In the UK, the CMA can now fine a company up to 10% of its global turnover without going to court.

• What is greenwashing: presenting a company, product or service as greener than it is, without data, a certificate or a measurable result.
• Vague claims: words such as “eco”, “natural” or “environmentally friendly” with no data, source or certificate.
• False labels: a company’s own “eco” badge that looks like an independent certificate.
• Neutral by offsets: a claim of zero impact based only on carbon credits.
• Irrelevant feature: praise for something the law already requires.
• Silence about the rest: one green feature in the spotlight, the rest of the life cycle hidden.

What is greenwashing?

The word joins green and whitewashing, which means covering up faults. Greenwashing is the gap between a promise and the facts. A company presents its products or actions as greener than they are. Instead of cutting its real impact, it pays for marketing that suggests a benefit for the planet that does not exist.

What matters is that the message misleads. The words “eco”, “natural” or “sustainable production” are not greenwashing on their own. They become greenwashing when there are no data, no certificate and no measurable result behind them. Honest environmental claims rest on evidence. Greenwashing rests on an impression.

Four more terms belong to the same family:

• greenhushing: keeping quiet about real environmental work for fear of criticism;
• greenlabelling: misleading marks and labels on products;
• greenlighting: drawing attention to a small green action to hide the main source of emissions;
• greencrowding: hiding behind a sector initiative instead of acting on your own.

Greenwashing examples

The best-known cases involve big brands. In the Dieselgate scandal, Volkswagen advertised “clean” diesel engines while its cars showed lower emissions in tests than on the road. H&M faced criticism for its “Conscious” collection, where the sustainability statements did not have full data behind them. In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority banned Ryanair ads in 2020 that called it Europe’s lowest emissions airline, because the claim lacked evidence.

The method is the same in every sector. Claims about sustainability suggest more than the data confirm. Only the setting changes.

Seven sins of greenwashing

The classic map of greenwashing comes from TerraChoice, a marketing firm. It still works as a filter for any campaign before it goes live. TerraChoice named seven sins:

1. Hidden trade-off: one green feature is stressed, while the harm from the rest is not mentioned.
2. No proof: a claim with no data, source or certificate.
3. Vagueness: general words such as “eco” or “natural” that mean nothing specific.
4. False labels: a company’s own marks that look like an independent certificate.
5. Irrelevance: a true feature that does not matter, for example “CFC-free” when CFCs are banned anyway.
6. Lesser of two evils: an “eco” product in a category that harms the environment by its nature.
7. Fibbing: information that is not true.

How to spot greenwashing?

Greenwashing looks the same in every sector. There are general slogans with no data, a company’s own labels, or one small action in place of the full picture. To spot it, ask a few questions about the message. If the answer to any of them is “we don’t know”, the message is probably ahead of reality:

• Does it give specific numbers, a source and a date, or only general words?
• Is it backed by an independent certificate, or by the company’s own badge?
• Does the claim cover the whole product, or only a small part of it?
• Is it about the real impact on the environment, or about the look of the message?
• Does the company also say what it has not solved yet?

You can always check a credible environmental claim. Consumers, online marketplaces and large buyers in supply chains now use the same test.

What are the penalties for greenwashing? EU and UK rules

Greenwashing is a legal risk, not only a risk to your image. In the EU, misleading environmental claims can be an unfair commercial practice under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. National consumer authorities enforce it. For cases that affect consumers in several EU countries, the maximum fine must be at least 4% of annual turnover in the countries concerned.

In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) checks green claims against its Green Claims Code. Since 6 April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 lets the CMA decide cases itself. It can fine a company up to 10% of its global turnover. Read more in our article on greenwashing penalties.

Directive (EU) 2024/825: new bans from 27 September 2026

Directive (EU) 2024/825, known as the Empowering Consumers Directive, adds new practices to the list of those that always mislead. EU countries apply the new bans from 27 September 2026. Some countries passed their laws late. In Poland, for example, the rules apply from 27 September 2027. If you sell in several countries, check the date in each one. The list now includes:

• general environmental claims, when the company cannot show recognised excellent environmental performance of the product;
• claims that a product is climate neutral based on offsetting emissions;
• sustainability labels that do not come from a certification scheme or a public authority;
• a claim about the whole product, when the benefit applies only to one part of it;
• claims about future performance without a detailed plan with measurable targets, checked by an independent expert;
• presenting a legal requirement as a special feature of the offer.

Lost trust can hurt more than the fine itself. A consumer rarely comes back to a brand that let them down. They also start to doubt the whole category of green products.

How to avoid greenwashing?

The rule is short. Say only what your company has really done, and have evidence for each claim. This can be a carbon footprint, a life cycle assessment or an environmental product declaration. Before you publish, check that the claim states its scope, base year and method. Check that it does not look like a certificate, and that it matches your sustainability report.

A separate guide gives eight rules, the roles of marketing, ESG and legal teams, and a checklist for each campaign: how to avoid greenwashing.

Frequently asked questions

Do you need evidence for your environmental claims?

We calculate the carbon footprint of companies and products, carry out life cycle assessments and prepare environmental product declarations (EPD). These are the data you can base your claims on without the risk of a greenwashing charge.

See how we work on a product carbon footprint, a life cycle assessment, an environmental product declaration and a green claims audit.