Eight practical principles to help brands, communicators and ESG teams talk about sustainability without slipping into greenwashing. Grounded in ISO 14021, the FTC Green Guides, the UK CMA Green Claims Code, EU CSRD/ESRS and EU Directive 2024/825.
Vague words like “green”, “eco-friendly”, “natural” or “sustainable” mean nothing on their own. Replace them with measurable, verifiable facts that a reader could check independently.
“This bottle is made of 70% post-consumer recycled PET, certified by RecyClass.”
“Our eco-bottle is sustainable and earth-friendly.”
Every environmental claim should be backed by primary data, a recognised standard or third-party assurance. If you can’t link to it, don’t claim it.
Cite a lifecycle assessment, ISO certification, or independent audit with a date and scope.
Use generic seals or in-house badges that look official but reference nothing.
“Net-zero by 2050” is meaningless without near-term milestones, an emissions baseline, a defined scope (1, 2, 3) and a published trajectory. Commitments without milestones read as marketing.
“We will cut Scope 1+2 emissions 42% by 2030 vs a 2022 baseline (SBTi-validated).”
“We aim to be carbon neutral one day.”
Don’t hide impact in the stages you don’t talk about. Sourcing, manufacturing, transport, use phase and end-of-life all matter — disclose them, even when the picture is uncomfortable.
Disclose where the largest impacts sit, not only where you’re winning.
Highlight recyclable packaging while staying silent on a carbon-heavy supply chain.
Sustainability communication is a dialogue. Open feedback channels, publish materiality assessments, respond to NGOs and customers, and let critique shape your reporting.
Publish a stakeholder engagement summary and how feedback changed your strategy.
Treat your sustainability page as a one-way press release.
Leaves, forests, water droplets and earth-tone palettes are aesthetics — not evidence. Imagery should illustrate substantiated claims, not stand in for them.
Use product photography, charts of real performance data, or images of audited facilities.
Wrap an unchanged product in a green leaf and call it eco.
Comparative claims (“50% less plastic”) need a clear baseline: less than what, when, measured how. Without that they mislead by omission.
“50% less virgin plastic vs our 2019 packaging, measured by weight per unit.”
“Now with less plastic.”
Sustainability messaging should be reviewed by the same teams that own ESG data — not only marketing. Establish a sign-off process and keep an evidence file behind every public claim.
Maintain a claims register linking each message to its data source and reviewer.
Let campaigns ship without an internal evidence trail.
Adopted as EU Directive 2024/1760, the CSDDD requires large companies to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for adverse human rights and environmental impacts across their own operations, subsidiaries and value chains.
EU and non-EU companies with 1,000+ employees and €450M+ net worldwide turnover. Phased in from 2027, with the largest companies first and full scope by 2029.
Board-level oversight, supplier codes of conduct, risk-based due-diligence processes, a climate transition plan aligned with 1.5°C, and meaningful engagement with affected stakeholders.
For sustainability communication, CSDDD raises the bar in four concrete ways: mission and purpose statements must explicitly commit to human rights and environmental due diligence; governance pages must name a board or executive-level body responsible for due-diligence oversight; supplier codes of conduct must be published and cover human rights and environmental standards; and stakeholder engagement must be structured, ongoing and documented — not anecdotal.
Key dates: adopted June 2024 · transposed into national law by 26 July 2026 · obligations start 26 July 2027 for the largest companies · full scope from 26 July 2029.
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