Four months left. On September 27, 2026, Directive (EU) 2024/825 enters into full effect across the European Union, and with it changes something many companies have taken for granted for years: communicating sustainability in vague or aspirational terms will no longer be a matter of image — it will become a legal risk with a price tag.

The directive, popularly known as the anti-greenwashing directive, prohibits the use of generic environmental claims without verifiable backing. Terms such as “sustainable,” “eco-friendly,” “carbon neutral,” or “planet-friendly,” commonly found on labels, websites, and communications materials of thousands of European companies, come directly under scrutiny if they are not accompanied by objective and accessible evidence.

Fines can reach 4% of annual turnover in the Member State where the company operates. For a company with €100 million in revenue in Spain, that’s four million euros at stake.

The real problem isn’t communicating well — it’s being able to prove it

Here is the nuance that many organizations are overlooking. The directive does not require companies to stop making environmental claims — it requires those claims to be verifiable. The difference may seem technical, but it has significant operational implications.

When a company claims to have reduced its emissions by 30%, it needs to be able to show where that figure comes from: which methodology was applied, what data supports it, how the scopes were calculated, which emission factors were used, and where the traceable evidence is. When it states that its product is “carbon neutral,” it needs a documented life cycle study, not an offset purchased without context.

The traceability of environmental data is no longer a differentiating argument — it becomes a legal requirement.

How many companies are truly ready?

Few. And not necessarily for lack of will, but because for years the ecosystem of available tools and processes did not demand that level of rigor. Calculations were done in Excel spreadsheets, reports were drafted manually, and marketing claims were built on data that no one had seriously put to the test.

The problem is that this model can no longer withstand an external verification process. And from September onwards, any consumer, regulatory body, or competitor can challenge an environmental claim and demand the evidence behind it.

Sustainability managers suddenly find themselves in a scenario where marketing, operations, and compliance departments must speak the same language: the language of data.

From regulatory pressure to a real competitive advantage

Some companies will see this directive as a threat; others will read it as an opportunity. Those that already work with verifiable data, with systems that generate auditable reports and with calculation traceability from activity to final report, will have a real advantage: they will be able to communicate credibly in a market where most will have to temper their messaging.

At Manglai we help sustainability teams manage exactly this: consolidating environmental data with full traceability, calculating carbon footprints according to recognized methodologies such as the GHG Protocol or ISO 14064, and generating audit-ready reports. Not as an operational luxury, but as the foundation that makes any claim a company wants to make about its impact genuinely sustainable — no pun intended.

If your company has not yet reviewed what environmental claims it makes and whether it can back them up with verifiable data, September is closer than it seems.

Request a demo and discover how Manglai can help you prepare your environmental communications with verifiable data.