A green leaf. A circle. Three stars. 'Eco Choice.' A proprietary sustainability logo can be designed in an afternoon — and that is exactly the practice the new rules aim to restrain. To consumers, a professionally designed label quickly looks like an independent award, even when it was invented entirely by the advertising company itself.
The underlying UWG rules are unusually specific here
A sustainability label, under the relevant provisions, is a voluntary public or private trust mark, quality mark, or similar device intended to highlight a product, process, or business activity in terms of its environmental or social characteristics. Attaching such a label is always impermissible where it is based neither on a genuine certification scheme nor established by a public authority.
What actually counts as a certification scheme?
This is also defined in some detail. Among other things, a qualifying scheme must be transparent and accessible without discrimination, must develop its requirements with the involvement of suitable experts and stakeholders, must provide procedures for breaches and for the withdrawal or suspension of the label, and must have compliance monitored by an independent third party using an objective procedure. A nice-looking logo plus an internal checklist is not enough.
Three questions for every label in use
Who defined the criteria, and are they public and traceable? Who actually checks compliance — the company itself, the scheme owner, or an independent third party? And what happens in the event of a breach — can the label actually be withdrawn? Companies should ask these questions not only about their own labels, but also about seals used by business partners, suppliers, and industry initiatives.
Labels are not automatically problematic
Quite the opposite: well-built certification schemes may become more valuable going forward, precisely because they offer something that self-declared claims cannot — a defined set of criteria and independent verification. Germany's Federal Environment Agency, for example, points to state-recognised eco-labels such as the Blue Angel or the EU Ecolabel as examples of recognised excellent environmental performance.
Even a recognised logo does not tell the whole story
Even where a label is genuinely recognised, companies should still communicate transparently about what exactly was certified, for what period, against which standard, who carried out the assessment, and whether the label applies to the whole company, a single location, a specific product, or only part of the business. A certificate can be entirely valid and still be communicated in a misleading way if its scope is overstated. The central question is therefore not 'do we have a label?' but rather 'what, precisely, does this label actually demonstrate?'
Application and human review
EmpCo primarily complements the rules for commercial practices directed at consumers. Check the applicable national implementation separately; Germany’s UWG does not automatically govern claims in other countries. Precise wording alone does not replace matching evidence or a responsible person’s decision before publication. Review the overall impression, including the heading, image and immediately visible explanation. Automated findings do not approve a claim.
Sources
About the author
Marco Giraldo · Founder of VERDAI
Marco Giraldo is the founder of VERDAI. His work focuses on evidence-based sustainability communication and practical claim management.
VERDAI is an independent orientation tool. This post does not replace legal advice.
