EU strengthens consumer empowerment
More and more Swedish consumers want to make good choices for the climate and the environment, but the majority find it difficult in the market's green grey zone. Now the EU is making it easier to be an environmentally conscious consumer, and there will also be clearer rules of the game for companies with Nordic Swan Ecolabel goods and services.
The role of the Nordic Swan Ecolabel is clarified
The EU Directive on "Empowering consumers in the green transition" has been adopted by the European Parliament. The aim of the new law is to ensure that consumers receive accurate and credible information about the goods they buy, making it easier to make more sustainable choices.
Companies need to prove how a product is sustainable
The new law is part of the EU's Green Deal, which aims to ensure a more sustainable and competitive business sector. It regulates environmental claims that are general, such as "good choices for the environment", and how companies should document the environmental performance behind the claim. The ecolabels that may be used in marketing must either be established by public authorities or verified by an independent third party. That is, Type 1 ecolabels such as the Nordic Swan Ecolabel and the EU Ecolabel may be used together with environmental messages.
The decision is a milestone for environmentally conscious consumers and an important engine in the green transition. It is high time to stop the greenwashing and brand-washing that is going on. It decreases consumers' trust in companies and their sustainability communication, delaying the green transition. Now, instead, companies that can document "excellent" climate and environmental performance will have a head start and the playing field will be fairer.
Consumers don't buy just any "green" messages
Nordic Ecolabelling's market survey (Ipsos 2022) shows that:
- 22% trust marketing with arguments like "eco-friendly," "sustainable," or "climate neutral."
- 18% trust that companies' own labels are good choices for the environment.
- 61% trust that products that are labelled with independent third-party certifications such as the Nordic Swan Ecolabel and the EU Ecolabel are good and healthy choices for the environment.
- 59% think it is important that the labelling organisation is objective and independent of the products it licenses.
- 76% have experienced that products are intentionally manufactured so that they cannot be repaired.
More about the law "Strengthened consumer power in the green transition"
The purpose of the new law is to facilitate more sustainable choices and strengthen consumer power. As well as promoting products of good quality so that resource consumption is reduced and circular business models are stimulated. The rules will also make it easier for consumers to find out how long a product is supposed to last and whether it can be repaired. Sweden has two years to implement the new rules.
New labelling practices
In Sweden, there is already practice. The Consumer Ombudsman has taken cases concerning the role of labelling in marketing to the Patent and Market Court. The Midsona judgment (2022) states that a label must be "robust" and "well-known" in order to be displayed on a product, without other information in direct connection. It's not enough for that information to be just a click away on a website. The Nordic Swan Ecolabel, like the EU Ecolabel, are labels that are robust and well-known, which can stand on their own on a product, the court states.