Ecolabel? Don’t think so … or do you?

456.

That’s the number of ecolabels worldwide, according to ecolabelindex.com. As far as I am concerned, that says three things. First: sustainability is commercially attractive in brand or product positioning. Second: brands and products are actually becoming more sustainable. And third: the maturity of eco-labels will have to increase. And that is badly needed.

Within those 456 eco-labels we find consumer-oriented labels such as MSC, ASC, Fairtrade and the EU Ecolabel. But there are also broader certifications among them, such as ISO standards or energy labels for buildings. Each type of label has its own function, a function that sometimes overshoots itself.

Ecolabels, by the way, are only one type of environmental claim. In fact, companies make much broader sustainability claims: from ‘CO2 neutral’ to ‘100% recyclable’ and from ‘plastic-free’ to ‘climate-positive’. All these expressions fall under the heading of “green claims.

Losing the overview

A major disadvantage of this abundance of labels ánd claims is that consumers lose track. For coffee, for example, there are already at least fifteen common labels. For wild caught and farmed fish there are now more than ten. The result: confusion and declining confidence, even in labels that have been around for years and are well-substantiated.

Green Claims legislation

Precisely because the problem is much broader than just eco-labels, the EU is tackling it bigger with the Green Claims Directive. This legislation deals with all environmental claims made by both products and companies. Think: “Made from 30% recycled plastic” or “Our carbon footprint has been reduced by 20% since 2015.

Update September 2026: when I wrote this, the Green Claims Directive seemed to be on its way. Things turned out differently: the directive has been on hold since June 2025. What does apply, in the Netherlands since 27 September 2026, is the Empower Consumer Act (EmpCo). For labels, that law means at the very least that a label you design yourself, without independent verification behind it, is no longer allowed. What else the law requires is in our article on the Empower Consumer Act.

According to EU research:

• 53% of environmental claims vague or even misleading
• 40% of claims not substantiated
• 50% of ecolabels weak or without verification system

Add to that the large number of labels, and the urgency becomes clear. The proposed Green Claims Directive was meant to require companies to substantiate all environmental claims, have them externally verified and use only approved labels. It never got that far. For labels, EmpCo does cover part of it: a sustainability label must be established by public authorities or be based on a certification scheme with independent verification.

Concrete example

What is no longer allowed is a claim like, “This plaice was caught sustainably. Why not? Because ‘sustainably caught’ is a vague, undefined term. No proof is provided or reference is made to a certificate or scientific source. Nor is it clear what is meant by ‘sustainable’: less bycatch? Less fuel consumption? Fishing outside protected areas? Moreover, verification by an independent party is lacking. Under EmpCo, such a vague claim is not allowed.

What is allowed is something like, “This plaice is MSC-certified, caught using a twinrig trawl with a mesh size larger than 100 mm, in the North Sea. The fishery meets the sustainability criteria of the Marine Stewardship Council. Certificate number: MSC-F-31446.’ This example nicely demonstrates how a recognized eco-label (MSC) can be part of a correct green claim.

Why this does make sense? It is concrete, traceable (fishing method, location, certification organization), based on a recognized and independent label, and refers to specific sustainability criteria such as ecosystem protection and good management. Transparency is also provided via the certificate number or a QR code.

The ACM supervises

There is no need to wait for new rules anymore: they have applied since 27 September 2026. The ACM supervises them, and was already working on this before.

For example, the Consumer & Market Authority (ACM) ran a campaign targeting the food industry in 2025. In April, industry associations received a letter about this, in which the ACM pointed out that it would enforce if there was consumer deception. In that context, the ACM refers to its Guideline on Sustainability Claims, a handy tool to work with.

I can imagine that after reading this column you are thinking, “So let’s not make any more sustainable claims for a while. That would be a shame and also a missed opportunity. Because about half of consumers still prefer sustainable products. While that percentage is declining, mainly due to distrust in the reliability of claims, the new EU legislation and the active role of the ACM will help restore trust. And when that happens, you want to be at the forefront.

Test your own claim or label

Want to know how a claim of your own holds up, for instance a label you designed yourself? Run it through the free Greenwashing Check by Empact. You enter one claim, answer the questions that go with it and see per criterion which rule the verdict rests on and what evidence belongs with it. For seven common sustainability claims, we showed how you can write them instead.