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Restricted claim

“We offset our emissions”

Is “We offset our emissions” allowed under the EU Green Claims Directive (2024/825)?

Medium-risk claim Carbon & climate

Why it is restricted

Stating the offsetting is permitted; using it to imply the product or company has no climate impact is not. The risk is in the surrounding claim, so check what sits next to this sentence.

Say this instead

Keep the sentence, remove any neutrality conclusion drawn from it, and state your gross emissions nearby.

Legal basis

Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4c, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (claiming, BASED ON OFFSETTING, that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive impact on the environment; a neutrality claim not resting on offsetting falls under point 4a and Article 6(1)(b) instead). Recital 12 states that the prohibition "should not prevent companies from advertising their investments in environmental initiatives, including carbon credit projects, as long as they provide such information in a way that is not misleading" — the offsetting itself is lawful; what point 4c prohibits is deriving a NEUTRALITY claim from it

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Related claims

“Carbon positive” High-risk claim “CO2 reduced” Medium-risk claim “Reduced carbon footprint” Medium-risk claim “Carbon neutral” High-risk claim “Carbon negative” High-risk claim “Climate neutral” High-risk claim

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