Greenwashing is when a company, product or service is made to appear more environmentally friendly than it actually is. It ranges from vague buzzwords on packaging to sophisticated corporate campaigns designed to distract from ongoing environmental damage.
The term was coined in the 1980s, but greenwashing has exploded in recent years as consumers increasingly favour sustainable products. A European Commission study found that over half of all environmental claims made by businesses in the EU were vague, misleading or based on unfounded information. Four in ten lacked any supporting evidence at all.
For Irish consumers, this matters because you are likely paying more for products and services based on green claims that may mean nothing. It also matters because genuine sustainable businesses are being undercut by competitors who talk the talk without walking the walk.
The good news is that the rules are changing fast. From September 2026, new EU legislation will ban many of the most common greenwashing tactics. This guide explains what greenwashing looks like, how to spot it, and what the new laws mean for consumers and businesses in Ireland.
🤔 What Exactly Is Greenwashing?
Greenwashing is any form of marketing, advertising or communication that gives a misleading impression of a company’s environmental credentials. It can be deliberate and cynical, or it can be the result of sloppy, unverified claims made by marketing departments that have not done their homework.
The core problem is the gap between what companies say about their environmental impact and what they actually do. Greenwashing fills that gap with language, imagery and branding designed to make you feel good about a purchase without the substance to back it up.
Greenwashing takes many forms, but the most common tactics fall into a few clear categories.
🔹 Vague Language
This is the most widespread form of greenwashing. Terms like “eco-friendly,” “green,” “natural,” “sustainable,” “clean,” “earth-friendly” and “conscious” are used without any specific meaning, definition or standard behind them. They sound reassuring but commit the company to nothing.
A shampoo labelled “natural” might contain 95% synthetic ingredients. A “green” energy tariff might come from the same gas-fired power station as every other tariff. A “sustainable” fashion collection might represent 1% of a brand’s total output while the other 99% remains unchanged.
Under new EU rules taking effect in September 2026, these generic claims will be banned unless backed by recognised, excellent environmental performance.
🔹 Irrelevant Claims
This involves highlighting a technically true but meaningless environmental benefit to distract from the bigger picture. A classic example is products labelled “CFC-free” – CFCs have been banned by law for decades, so this is not a selling point. Advertising that paper products are “plastic-free” falls into the same category.
In Ireland, you might see cleaning products marketed as “phosphate-free” even though phosphates in household detergents have been restricted under EU regulations for years. The claim is technically accurate but implies the company has done something special when it has simply complied with the law.
🔹 Hidden Trade-offs
This means drawing attention to one green attribute while ignoring significant environmental problems elsewhere. An electric vehicle company might emphasise zero tailpipe emissions while saying nothing about the carbon footprint of battery manufacturing. A clothing brand might promote a “recycled” line while its core business model depends on disposable fast fashion.
🔹 No Proof
Claims that cannot be verified because no evidence, data or third-party certification is provided. Statements like “50% less plastic” (less than what?) or “reducing our carbon footprint” (by how much, from what baseline, over what period?) are essentially meaningless without context and evidence.
🔹 Misleading Imagery
Green packaging, images of forests and oceans, leaves and recycling symbols used to create an impression of environmental responsibility that the product or company does not deserve. A fossil fuel company using images of wind turbines and green landscapes in its advertising is a textbook example.
🔹 Carbon Offsetting as a Shield
Companies claiming their products or operations are “carbon neutral” or “climate neutral” based on purchasing carbon offsets rather than actually reducing their emissions. This has been one of the most widespread forms of greenwashing in recent years and is now being specifically targeted by EU legislation.
🏭 Real-World Greenwashing Examples
Greenwashing is not limited to small or obscure companies. Some of the world’s biggest brands have been called out, fined or taken to court over misleading environmental claims.
🔹 Volkswagen – Dieselgate
Perhaps the most infamous greenwashing scandal of all. Volkswagen marketed its diesel vehicles as “clean” and environmentally friendly while secretly installing software in approximately 11 million vehicles worldwide that manipulated emissions tests. In real-world driving, these engines were emitting nitrogen oxides at up to 40 times the permitted levels. The scandal has cost Volkswagen approximately €31 billion in fines, settlements and legal costs – and permanently damaged consumer trust in the brand’s environmental claims.
🔹 KLM – “Fly Responsibly”
Dutch airline KLM ran a campaign encouraging passengers to “Fly Responsibly” and suggesting that flying could be made “sustainable” through measures like sustainable aviation fuels and carbon offsetting. In 2024, a Dutch court ruled that several of KLM’s advertisements were misleading and unlawful, finding that the airline painted an “overly rosy picture” of the impact of these measures, which only marginally reduce aviation’s environmental footprint. The European Commission subsequently sent letters to 20 airlines identifying potentially misleading green claims.
🔹 TotalEnergies – Carbon Neutrality Claims
In a landmark 2025 ruling – the first successful greenwashing case in Europe against a major oil company – a French court ordered TotalEnergies to remove misleading website claims about aiming for carbon neutrality or face fines of €10,000 per day. This came as the company was simultaneously planning to ramp up gas production. The case set a powerful precedent for holding fossil fuel companies accountable for the gap between their marketing and their actual business strategies.
🔹 Shell – “Green” Rebrand
Shell has repeatedly marketed itself as committed to net zero and the clean energy transition. However, analysis shows the company has devoted only around 1% of its long-term investments to low-carbon renewable power, while continuing to explore new oil and gas production opportunities. Shell was ordered by a Dutch court in 2021 to cut CO₂ emissions by 45% by 2030. The company appealed but continues to face legal and reputational challenges over the gap between its advertising and its operations.
🔹 Fast Fashion – “Conscious” Collections
Major fashion brands including H&M, Shein and Zara have faced greenwashing accusations over “sustainable” or “conscious” clothing lines that represent a tiny fraction of their overall production. The vast majority of their business model remains rooted in high-volume, low-cost, disposable fashion. Shein was fined $1.2 million for misleading sustainability claims. These capsule collections serve primarily as marketing tools rather than evidence of genuine systemic change.
🔹 HSBC – Selective Green Advertising
HSBC ran bus stop advertisements in the UK highlighting its climate-friendly initiatives such as planting trees and financing net-zero transitions. However, the ads omitted any mention of the bank’s significant continued financing of high-carbon industries including thermal coal mining and fossil fuels – estimated at $8.7 billion in new oil and gas financing in 2021 alone. The UK Advertising Standards Authority banned the ads for being misleading.
🔹 “Greenrinsing” – The New Tactic
A newer form of greenwashing emerged in 2025 called “greenrinsing,” where companies set ambitious sustainability targets to attract investors and positive press coverage, then quietly water them down or abandon them later. Major multinationals including Shell, BP, Unilever and Coca-Cola have all weakened or delayed previously announced climate targets.
🇮🇪 Greenwashing in Ireland
Ireland is not immune to greenwashing. While there have been fewer high-profile legal cases than in countries like France, the Netherlands or Germany, the problem is widespread.
A survey of 125 financial service firms in Ireland found that fewer than one-third were fully complying with EU rules around “green investments.” The Central Bank of Ireland has identified ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) issues as a major regulatory priority, reflecting growing concerns about misleading sustainability claims in the financial sector.
Ireland currently has no specific anti-greenwashing legislation. Misleading environmental claims fall under the Consumer Protection Act 2007, which prohibits misleading commercial practices generally but was not designed with green claims specifically in mind.
The advertising industry in Ireland is self-regulated through the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI), which is funded by the advertising industry itself. Critics argue this creates an inherent conflict of interest and lacks the teeth needed to deter greenwashing effectively.
This regulatory gap is about to close significantly with the introduction of EU-wide rules, but until September 2026, Irish consumers need to be their own best defence against misleading green claims.
⚖️ The New EU Rules – What’s Changing from September 2026
The EU’s Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (often called the Green Transition Directive or the Greenwashing Directive) was adopted in February 2024 and must be transposed into Irish law by March 2026. The new rules apply from 27 September 2026.
This is the most significant change in consumer protection around environmental claims that Ireland has ever seen. Here is what it means in practice:
🔹 What’s Being Banned
🌿 Generic green claims without proof – terms like “eco-friendly,” “green,” “sustainable,” “climate-friendly,” “natural” and “environmentally responsible” will be banned unless the product has demonstrably excellent environmental performance that has been officially recognised or certified. Vague buzzwords without substance become illegal.
🌿 “Carbon neutral” claims based on offsets – any claim that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive greenhouse gas impact is prohibited if it is based on carbon offsetting rather than actual emission reductions in the product’s lifecycle. This kills the widespread practice of slapping “carbon neutral” labels on products simply because the company bought carbon credits.
🌿 Self-made sustainability labels – companies will no longer be able to create their own in-house environmental labels or certification marks. Sustainability labels must be based on official certification schemes or established by public authorities.
🌿 Advertising legal requirements as special features – claiming environmental benefits that are actually just legal requirements (like “CFC-free” or “phosphate-free”) will be treated as misleading.
🔹 What’s Now Required
🌿 Future performance claims need evidence – claims like “carbon neutral by 2030” or “net zero by 2050” must be backed by clear, publicly available, verifiable commitments, a detailed implementation plan with measurable time-bound targets, and regular independent third-party verification. Empty pledges without a roadmap become actionable.
🌿 Comparative claims need transparency – if a company claims its product is “greener” or “more sustainable” than a competitor, it must disclose the methodology behind the comparison so consumers can understand the basis.
🌿 Durability and repairability information – the directive also requires businesses to provide clearer information about how durable and repairable their products are, tackling the related problem of planned obsolescence.
🔹 Enforcement and Penalties
The directive is enforced through existing consumer protection mechanisms in each EU member state. In Ireland, this means the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) will be the primary enforcement body. Penalties vary by member state, but EU rules require fines of at least up to 4% of annual turnover – a figure designed to make greenwashing genuinely costly for large corporations.
The rules apply to any business selling to EU consumers, regardless of where the company is based. If a US, UK or Asian company sells products in Ireland or elsewhere in the EU, it must comply.
🔹 The Green Claims Directive – On Hold
A separate, more ambitious piece of EU legislation – the Green Claims Directive – was proposed in 2023 and would have required mandatory third-party verification of all environmental claims before they could be used. The European Commission announced its intention to withdraw this proposal in June 2025 following political pushback about regulatory burden. However, the Commission has since clarified that it has not been formally withdrawn, and its future remains uncertain.
Regardless of what happens to the Green Claims Directive, the Green Transition Directive is already law and will apply from September 2026.
🔍 How to Spot Greenwashing – A Practical Guide for Irish Consumers
You do not need to be an expert to identify most greenwashing. Here are the questions to ask when you encounter an environmental claim:
🔹 Is the claim specific or vague?
“Made from 80% recycled materials” is specific and verifiable. “Eco-friendly” is vague and meaningless. Specific claims with numbers, percentages and named standards are far more likely to be genuine. If a claim cannot be measured, it probably cannot be trusted.
🔹 Is there independent certification?
Look for recognised third-party certifications rather than self-awarded labels. In Ireland and the EU, credible certifications include the EU Ecolabel (the flower logo), the FSC mark for sustainable forestry, Fairtrade, the Soil Association organic mark and BER ratings for homes. If a product carries only its own brand’s “green” logo with no external verification, treat it with scepticism.
🔹 Does the company show its working?
Genuine sustainability leaders publish detailed data – carbon footprints, supply chain audits, progress against targets, third-party verification reports. If a company makes big claims but provides no data to back them up, that is a red flag.
🔹 Is it the full picture or a cherry-picked highlight?
A company promoting one “sustainable” product line while the rest of its business operates unchanged is using greenwashing as a marketing tool, not as a business strategy. Look at the company’s overall operations, not just the promoted product.
🔹 Does “carbon neutral” mean actual reductions?
Until the new EU rules take effect in September 2026, “carbon neutral” claims based on offsetting are still legal. Ask whether the company has actually reduced its own emissions or just purchased credits. From September 2026, offset-based carbon neutral claims on products will be banned in the EU.
🔹 Is the claim relevant?
A product advertising a benefit that is either legally required or irrelevant to the product’s actual environmental impact is likely greenwashing. Water being labelled “gluten-free” is a consumer example of this tactic in a different context – technically true but completely meaningless.
🏠 Greenwashing and Your Home – What to Watch For in Ireland
Greenwashing is not just a problem for supermarket products. Irish homeowners encounter it in the energy and home improvement sector too.
🔹 “Green” Energy Tariffs
Some electricity suppliers market “green” or “100% renewable” tariffs. In many cases, these tariffs are backed by Guarantees of Origin certificates – paper instruments that can be traded separately from the actual electricity. Your physical electricity still comes from the same grid, which in Ireland is powered by a mix of gas, wind, solar and other sources. A “green” tariff may simply mean the supplier has purchased certificates equivalent to your consumption, not that additional renewable capacity has been built because of your choice.
This does not mean all green tariffs are meaningless – some suppliers genuinely invest in new renewable generation. But it is worth asking what specifically your tariff funds beyond certificate purchases.
🔹 “Eco” Building Products
Products marketed as “eco-friendly” insulation, “green” paints or “sustainable” building materials should ideally carry recognised certifications (such as the EU Ecolabel, NSAI Agrément certification, or BRE Green Guide ratings) rather than just self-declared green credentials. When retrofitting your home, always check that products meet the specific standards required by SEAI grant conditions rather than relying on marketing claims.
🔹 Carbon Offset Claims on Products
Products sold in Ireland increasingly carry “carbon neutral” or “climate positive” labels based on carbon offsetting. While this practice will be banned from September 2026, it remains widespread until then. These labels often disguise products with significant carbon footprints. A “carbon neutral” flight, for example, simply means the airline has purchased offsets – the actual emissions from burning jet fuel are unchanged.
🔹 Home Energy Claims
If a contractor claims their installation will achieve a specific BER improvement, ask for evidence and ensure they are SEAI-registered. Genuine energy upgrades like heat pumps and solar panels deliver measurable, verifiable improvements. Be cautious of any contractor making vague claims about energy savings without specific figures tied to your home’s characteristics.
🏢 What Irish Businesses Need to Know
If you run a business in Ireland that makes environmental claims – whether in advertising, packaging, on your website or in marketing materials – the September 2026 deadline is approaching fast.
The key steps for Irish businesses:
🌿 Audit all existing environmental claims across marketing materials, packaging, websites and social media. Identify any generic, vague or unsubstantiated claims.
🌿 Remove or substantiate vague claims before September 2026. Terms like “eco-friendly,” “green,” “sustainable” and “natural” will need to be either removed or backed by recognised excellent environmental performance.
🌿 Review any carbon neutral or climate neutral claims. If these are based on offsetting rather than actual lifecycle emission reductions, they must be removed from product-level marketing.
🌿 Replace self-made sustainability labels with recognised third-party certifications where possible.
🌿 Ensure future performance claims (such as “net zero by 2030”) are supported by a published, measurable implementation plan with third-party verification.
🌿 Be aware that there is no transition period for existing products and packaging after 27 September 2026. Products already in the distribution chain must comply from that date.
The Consumer Protection Act 2007 already prohibits misleading commercial practices in Ireland, and the CCPC can take action against businesses making false or misleading environmental claims even before the new EU directive is transposed. Environmental claims also carry litigation risk under Ireland’s implementation of the EU Collective Redress scheme.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions About Greenwashing
🔹 What is greenwashing?
Greenwashing is when a company, product or service is made to appear more environmentally friendly than it actually is through misleading marketing, advertising, packaging or communication. It can involve vague claims, selective truth-telling, misleading imagery, unverified certifications or carbon offset-based neutrality claims.
🔹 Is greenwashing illegal in Ireland?
Currently, Ireland has no specific anti-greenwashing law. However, misleading environmental claims can be challenged under the Consumer Protection Act 2007, which prohibits misleading commercial practices. From 27 September 2026, the EU Green Transition Directive will introduce specific bans on common greenwashing practices, including generic green claims and offset-based carbon neutrality labels.
🔹 What is the EU Green Transition Directive?
An EU law adopted in February 2024 that bans generic environmental claims (like “eco-friendly” or “green”) unless backed by recognised excellent performance, prohibits “carbon neutral” product claims based on offsetting, bans self-made sustainability labels, and requires future environmental pledges to be backed by verifiable plans. It must be applied in all EU member states, including Ireland, from 27 September 2026.
🔹 What is the difference between the Green Transition Directive and the Green Claims Directive?
The Green Transition Directive is already adopted EU law and will apply from September 2026. It bans the most common greenwashing practices. The Green Claims Directive was a separate, more ambitious proposal that would have required third-party verification of all environmental claims. The Commission announced its intention to withdraw the Green Claims Directive in June 2025, though its formal status remains unclear.
🔹 Will “carbon neutral” labels be banned?
Yes, on products. From September 2026, it will be illegal to claim a product has a neutral, reduced or positive greenhouse gas impact if that claim is based on carbon offsetting rather than actual emission reductions in the product’s value chain. Companies can still promote their support for environmental projects, but they cannot present offsets as direct compensation for their product’s emissions.
🔹 How can I spot greenwashing?
Look for specific, measurable claims rather than vague buzzwords. Check for recognised third-party certifications (EU Ecolabel, FSC, Fairtrade) rather than self-awarded labels. Ask whether the company publishes data to support its claims. Consider whether the highlighted green attribute represents the full picture or just a cherry-picked highlight. Be sceptical of “carbon neutral” claims that rely on offsets.
🔹 What should I do if I think a company is greenwashing?
In Ireland, you can report misleading claims to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) or file a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI). From September 2026, enforcement mechanisms will be significantly strengthened under the new EU rules.
🔹 Does greenwashing affect the energy sector?
Yes. Fossil fuel companies, airlines and energy suppliers have all been found guilty of or challenged over greenwashing. In Ireland, “green” electricity tariffs and “eco” building products should be scrutinised for substance. For genuine home energy improvements, look for SEAI-registered contractors and verified BER ratings rather than unverified marketing claims.
🔹 What is “greenrinsing”?
A newer tactic where companies announce ambitious sustainability targets to attract positive coverage and investment, then quietly weaken or abandon those targets later. Several major multinationals have been identified doing this in 2025, including weakening previously announced climate commitments.
🔹 Are there genuine sustainability certifications I can trust?
Yes. Credible certifications include the EU Ecolabel, FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), Fairtrade, organic certifications from bodies like the Soil Association or the Irish Organic Association, and BER ratings for homes in Ireland. These involve independent third-party verification against published standards. Self-awarded company labels without external verification should be treated with caution.
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Climate Jargon Buster is an independent resource providing plain-English information on climate, energy and sustainability topics for an Irish audience. This article is correct as of March 2026. For consumer protection information, visit ccpc.ie. For official EU information on the Green Transition Directive, visit ec.europa.eu.