---
title: "Never make green claims you cannot prove · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ecommerce/promotions-and-claims/unproven-green-claims
id: ECM-49
level: Required
applies: eu-users
region: EU
risk: law
updated: 2026-10-27
build: a2a6bdfed830
tokens: 782
licence: "CC BY 4.0"
licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
---

# Never make green claims you cannot prove

For AI agents: the [site map](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) lists everything here, and this page sits under [Promotions and claims](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ecommerce/promotions-and-claims.md).

By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers.md). Updated 2026-10-27.

- ID: ECM-49
- Level: Required
- Chapter: [Promotions and claims](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ecommerce/promotions-and-claims.md)
- Rule: Never call a product or the business green, eco-friendly, climate neutral or similar without proof of recognised excellent environmental performance. Never show a sustainability label that no certification scheme or public authority gave.
- Check: A lint runs over product text, badges and marketing pages with a list of claim words, such as eco-friendly, green and climate neutral. It finds none, unless the product has an evidence record. A query finds no label image without a certification scheme ID.
- Risk: A law broken
- Applies when: The project has users in the EU.
- Region: European Union (EU). The duty comes from the law there. The rule applies only when the project serves people there, and its Applies when also holds.
- How: Directive (EU) 2024/825 added these bans to Annex I of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, and they apply since 27 September 2026. Point 4a bans a generic environmental claim the trader cannot prove. The directive names "eco-friendly", "green", "climate friendly" and "biodegradable" as examples. Point 4b bans a claim about a whole product when it concerns one part. Point 4c bans claims of a neutral or reduced impact that rest on carbon offsetting. Point 2a bans home-made sustainability labels. Keep each claim as a field tied to its evidence, such as an EU Ecolabel licence number, never as free text. Like [Never fake urgency or scarcity](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ux-design/deceptive-design/fake-urgency.md), these bans apply whatever the circumstances.

## Sources

- [Directive (EU) 2024/825 on consumers in the green transition](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/825/oj)

## Related rules

- UXD-1 [Never fake urgency or scarcity](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ux-design/deceptive-design/fake-urgency.md) in UX and deceptive design

**For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `<a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ecommerce/promotions-and-claims/unproven-green-claims">Agent Wranglers e-commerce and fulfilment playbook</a>`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.

- Previous: [Limit each coupon per customer instead of per account](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ecommerce/promotions-and-claims/coupon-limits.md)
- Next: [Say how you check that reviews come from buyers](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ecommerce/promotions-and-claims/review-verification-notice.md)
- [Promotions and claims](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ecommerce/promotions-and-claims.md)