Changes to the Finnish Consumer Protection Act, based on the EU Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition, entered into force on September 27th, 2026. With the reform, the regulation of environmental claims became stricter, as claims now require more concrete evidence and leave less room for interpretation. The change is for the better, but companies must be prepared.
If almost anything can be generally advertised as environmentally friendly, green, and ecological, claims face inflation, their value is diluted, and consumer trust erodes. Naturally, misleading environmental claims were not permitted before either, and the Consumer Ombudsperson has intervened when necessary. The update brings clear rules and lists specific environmental marketing practices that are now strictly banned in all situations.
The reform applies to all consumer marketing, including social media content, influencer marketing, websites, advertisements, consumer events, packaging, and e-commerce product information, regardless of company size. Although the reform has already entered into force, a limited national transition period until March 27th, 2027, applies to products and packaging placed on the market before September 27th, 2026, regarding sustainability labels, generic environmental claims, and the scope of the claim. However, social media campaigns, for instance, must already be updated to comply with the new regulations, even if they were launched before these took effect.
The directive also brought broader changes related to product durability, reparability, software updates, and guarantees, among other things, but this article deals with the topic specifically regarding environmental claims.
What is an environmental claim?
An environmental or green claim is a message presented in any format that gives the impression that a company, brand, product, or service has a positive, neutral, lesser, or improved impact on the environment. A claim is not necessarily a word or in text format; the definition also covers images, symbols, colors, brand names, and labels, for example. Thus, these can form an environmental claim even if nothing is stated in text.
What exactly has changed?
One of the clearest changes is that generic expressions, such as ecological and climate-friendly, are prohibited unless an excellent level of environmental protection can be demonstrated. In practice, this level is officially demonstrated with an officially recognized ecolabel. For example, the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, familiar to us Finns, can still enable generic claims, as it shows that the product meets strict environmental criteria covering its entire life cycle. However, an ecolabel awarded to a product applies only to the labeled product, not to the entire company or its other range. In addition, the label and the claim must correspond to each other: climate-friendly specifically requires excellence related to climate impacts.
Making environmental claims without an ecolabel is still permitted if generic claims are changed to specific ones. So if a package previously said ecological packaging, the claim must now be specified, for example, to: Packaging is made of 80% recycled plastic. Specific information must naturally be true, up to date, and verifiable, and a single environmental benefit does not entitle presenting the entire product or company as a better choice for the environment. The specification must not be hidden in fine print, let alone directing the consumer to seek specific information from a website or QR code, for example – the claim and the specification must clearly be in the same context.
A product or service cannot be marketed as neutral, low-emission, or climate-positive in terms of environmental impact if the claim is based on emission offsetting. For example, carbon-neutral delivery based on offsetting is now prohibited. Instead, you can report specifically on possible actual emission reductions.
A statutory requirement cannot be presented as a special environmental benefit of your own offering. For instance, a product cannot be advertised as BPA-free or phosphate-free if these properties are legal requirements across the entire product category.
Environmental claims may also not be presented as comparisons unless the target of the comparison, metrics, and calculation method are verifiable and presented transparently. In addition, the compared products must serve the same purpose.
In corporate marketing communications, one often encounters pledge claims, such as Carbon neutral by 2030 or We will halve our emissions by 2030. Such claims must be based on clear, publicly available commitments, and they require a detailed, feasible plan with measurable, time-bound targets. An independent expert must monitor progress regularly, and the observations must be available to consumers. So if a company wants to use a pledge claim, it must have a public implementation plan, which can be included in sustainability reporting, for example.
What does this mean for companies?
The marketer is responsible for the legal compliance of the claims it presents, and compliance with the regulations is supervised by the Consumer Ombudsperson. Practice contrary to the rules can lead to a marketing ban, conditional fines, and penalty fees. The consumer may be entitled to a price reduction if a misleading claim has likely affected the purchasing decision.
In addition to financial risk, it is worth considering a brand's invaluable intangible asset: reputation. Public greenwashing headlines eat away at the very trust that sustainability communications have attempted to build. The new regulations by no means prevent sustainability communications; on the contrary, they make them more effective as the noise dies down and real, verifiable investments and steps forward get to stand out. Good sustainability communications have anyway been based on facts up to now as well.
Quick checklist – are these already in order?
✅ You have gone through all claims across different channels and materials.
✅ You have checked and assessed that every claim is verifiable and precise, and does not create a misleadingly broad impression of the environmental benefits of the entire company, product, or service.
✅ You have removed vague environmental claims, offset-based climate claims, and any proprietary sustainability symbols that are not based on external certification.
✅ You have updated the materials as necessary.
✅ You have built public, verifiable plans for future targets and track progress with an external expert.
If any point is undone or raises questions, we at Mellakka are happy to help!
Annina Pikkumäki
CEO