It’s been a long time coming, but the EU’s EmpCo Directive was finally implemented on September 27th 2026, changing the game for companies using “sustainable” messaging and consumers trying to buy green.
The directive is aimed at removing greenwashing in brand communications and empowering consumers on making more sustainable purchases by providing better, more reliable information. This means stricter rules and more protections for consumers which companies will need to comply with. The directive is ensuring that all blanket sustainability terms will be removed, requiring businesses to provide evidence and certification to back up their claims, and building more credibility and transparency in the long run.
We said it a year ago, and it still rings true today, companies need to start changing their language to comply with EmpCo.
What is EmpCo?
EmpCo, or Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, is the EU’s attempt to remove greenwashing and create stricter sustainable measures that will protect consumers. The directive is amending both the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Consumer Rights Directive to include bans on these false sustainability claims. The scope of the rules are wide, aimed at any company providing goods and services to a consumer. Ultimately, these new rules ensure that all sustainability claims are reliable, verifiable, transparent, and based on evidence.
Here’s a breakdown of what has changed:
- Ban on sustainable claims – using words like “climate-neutral”, “sustainable”, “eco-friendly”, and “green” must be supported with evidence
- Ban on future environmental promises without an accessible, verified implementation plan
- Third-party sustainable certification
- Ban on climate-neutrality claims based on carbon offsetting
- Advertisement of benefits of a product must be a direct result of that product and supported by evidence
- Comparisons to other products must be fair and factual
- Partial claims cannot be presented as a whole
- Ban on advertising factors that are already legal requirements as special features
In fact, the EU is not the only jurisdiction to create stricter regulations for sustainable language. The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has introduced its own guidelines that regulate how brands make green claims. Using this type of messaging, whether in advertising, in claims, or in the brand name itself, needs to be backed up with evidence and explanations. Companies within the UK need to make sure they are making clear, specific, provable statements
The goal? Provide consumers with accurate information on sustainable products and empower them to make informed environmentally friendly decisions.
Why is this relevant to the hospitality industry?
The directive is aimed at all B2C companies that offer a good or service to consumers – this means that tourism and hospitality is included in the scope.
Any good provided by a travel and tourism company is regulated under EmpCo, including the way this good is advertised, described, and provided to consumers. If your brand has sustainable initiatives and communicates them, they must be backed with clear, consistent evidence.
Therefore, hospitality brands need to keep three important rules in mind:
- Assess sustainable communications
- Generate clear evidence of sustainable action
- Rewrite sustainable claims
EmpCo means a serious transformation in the way brands communicate and advertise themselves to the consumer.
What does this mean?
Compliance with these new rules should be the top priority for any company, but transforming your communications can be a daunting task. To communicate your sustainability claims you will need to ensure you have proof, you are using clear language, and your messaging is consistent. Always track your efforts, communicate clearly, and act consistently and responsibly.
In order to do this, we recommend running a sustainability communications check. This means educating your company on the EmpCo Directive requirements to understand where your current claims stand, what legal risks you are running, and how you can communicate these credibly and compliantly. In order to do this, it is essential that brands review all marketing materials, brand messaging, and sustainable communications.
Once you’ve run this check, it’s important to create a plan of action, noting everything you need to do in order to comply with the EmpCo Directive. Below is a list of actions and materials that all companies should start to produce and build up:
Action 1: Back up all green claims
Materials needed: Create evidence folders, data sheets, and monitoring systems while ensuring that language is fair, factual, accurate, and transparent.
Action 2: Examine future plans
Materials needed: Evidence demonstrating concrete and measurable plans that can be verified by third parties.
Action 3: Third party verification
Materials needed: Go through the process of obtaining sustainable certification from a verified label.
Action 4: Keep track of member states’ own rules
Materials needed: Outline of all the rules that need compliance with that your company employees can reference when generating content.
Changing your messaging is difficult and understanding the new rules puts companies at risk of communicating the wrong things. We’ve created resources for hospitality brands to refer to when checking compliance.
Resources to Help You
Our Sustainable Hotel Handbook: Communication offers hotels support in tackling these new regulations by guiding them through greenwashing issues, value identification, messaging clarification, and authentic communication. The guide uses actual tools, exercises, and checklists to get companies thinking, while providing advice from experts within the sustainable travel industry.
We’ve also created the Greenwashing Checklist that empowers brands to actively think about their messaging not only for the sake of compliance but to build consumer trust, work transparently, and actually take the time to implement sustainable initiatives. With our three keys to success – education, evidence, and verification – brands can take pride in their efforts and communicate that effectively, responsibly, and authentically.
Your next steps
The EmpCo Directive marks a turning point in the EU’s green transition and it can be difficult to navigate. We are here to help with whatever you need to head into this new era with confidence in your communications.
Here is a list of our resources on EmpCo:
- Read our full breakdown on EmpCo guidance for hotels here.
- Check out our greenwashing checklist here.
- Buy our Sustainable Hotel Handbook: Communication here.
Don’t hesitate to reach out and our team would be happy to take a look at everything with you.
