Green Claims & Litigation

Opportunities and challenges for our clients

The transformation of product life cycles and business models through the use of biomaterials, eco-design, recycling and environmentally conscious production processes is becoming more important than ever, offering new market opportunities and greater resilience in times of crisis. Transparency through digitalisation of the production process and verifiable compliance with environmental targets in production and packaging are becoming essential prerequisites for doing business successfully in the domestic market and in global competition.

The European and national legal framework provides for comprehensive regulations in resource-intensive key sectors such as textiles, construction, electronics, plastics, food, automobiles, and batteries. This should make products available on the internal market more environmentally friendly, recyclable and energy-efficient in the future. Consumers are to play a more active role in this transformation process by making informed purchasing decisions, protecting them from greenwashing and obliging companies to provide clear information on the sustainability of their products and services.

Labeling or marketing products as "environmentally friendly", "climate neutral" or "energy-efficient" is therefore increasingly a powerful sales argument today. However, such claims are increasingly being questioned by the public – and often rightly so. The number of greenwashing allegations brought to court is rising rapidly. The EU's forthcoming “Green Claims” Directive is intended to create stricter rules on when environmental and social claims and seals are permissible and when they are not.

Our legal services at a glance

Rödl & Partner has been advising clients from a wide range of industries for many years on all legal issues relating to the labeling of industrial and consumer products and the limits of permissible advertising, in particular with regard to green claims and quality seals.

Our multidisciplinary team also represents international clients in all disputes before courts and authorities on regulatory and competition law issues in connection with the labeling and advertising of products and services in cases of alleged greenwashing.

Our legal service portfolio in detail

Legal review and design of environmental product labeling (seals, logos, graphics, texts, etc.)
Legal review and design of environmental advertising claims (e.g. claims such as: climate-neutral, CO2-neutral, environmentally friendly, green, energy-efficient)
Advice on the upcoming EU "Green Claims" Directive and sector-specific EU regulatory initiatives
Extrajudicial and judicial defense in the event of accusations of greenwashing by competitors or consumer advocates
Communication with authorities in the event of risk of injunctions
Crisis communication and press law advice in the event of greenwashing allegations
In addition to advising on statements relating to the environmental performance of products, our interdisciplinary team also advises on all legal aspects of a sustainable product lifecycle, from research and development to the disposal of the product.