Green claims update: November 2025

Welcome to our round-up of the key legal and regulatory developments relating to green claims. If you have any questions about this, or about wider ESG and sustainability regulatory developments, please get in touch.

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Key updates

Green Claims Under the Spotlight: 62% of Products Fail Which? Investigation

A Which? investigation into over 1,000 online product listings found 62% of products breached at least two of the CMA's Green Claims Code principles. Only 16% of products passed all checks. Most failures related to vague and unsubstantiated claims such as “sustainable” or “environmentally friendly”, or to broader failures to back-up claims such as through QR codes, hyperlinks or other signposting to further supporting information.

French court finds Total Energies misled consumers over climate action

TotalEnergies has been found guilty of misleading commercial practices for claims that it planned to be carbon neutral by 2050 and that it was a "major actor in the energy transition", despite continuing to invest in fossil fuels. In what is the first greenwashing judgment issued against the oil industry, the court ordered Total to pay the claimant NGOs €8,000 each and to publish the court's decision on its website for 180 days, or face significant fines (of up to €20,000 per day).

FCA to regulate ESG ratings providers

 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is set to regulate ESG ratings providers, marking a significant milestone in the UK’s approach to sustainable finance. The new regulatory regime, which under draft legislation will kick in from 29 June 2028, aims to improve transparency, reliability, and trust in ESG ratings, which are highly influential in investment decision-making. 

ASA rulings

Cruise Circle and Cruise 1st

The ASA upheld complaints against two travel agents Cruise Circle and Cruise 1st for ads suggesting that MSC Cruises offered an "eco-friendly" and "green alternative" by using liquified natural gas (LNG) which they described as "the world’s cleanest marine fuel".  According to the ASA, the ads did not provide contextual information about the broader environmental impacts of cruising and LNG (eg methane emissions and underwater discharges impacting marine life) and therefore they exaggerated the environmental benefits of MSC Cruises.

Shell Energy UK

The ASA ruled in favour of Shell, finding that a paid-for LinkedIn ad promoting Shell's decarbonisation work with its business customer Baker Hughes was not misleading. The ASA accepted Shell's arguments that the B2B ad was narrowly confined to Shell's work with a specific corporate client and would not be interpreted by consumers as representative of Shell's wider consumer-facing activity or its own carbon transition plans.

Red Tractor

The ASA held that a TV ad for Assured Food Standards' Red Tractor Scheme misleadingly implied that all products carrying the Red Tractor Logo meet certain environmental standards. The ASA found that the ad, which included the text "certified standards" and "farmed with care", exaggerated the benefits of Red Tractor endorsement and Assured Food Standards had failed to show it had robust processes to ensure basic legislative standards and a good environmental outcome were met.

Stove Industry Association

 The ASA ruled that the Stove Industry Association's (ISA) claims that modern wood-burning stoves can "significantly lower emissions" compared to open fires or older stoves were misleading because they did not make clear what "emissions" meant. Whilst the ISA said "emissions" referred to Particulate Matter 2.5, this was not made clear in that ad and the ASA found that consumers would likely interpret the claims more broadly as relating to greenhouse gas emissions. The claims, as consumers would understand them, were not adequately substantiated and were misleading.

Sector updates

Consumer brands and retail

Shein fined €1M for misleading green claims

Online fashion retailer Shein has been fined €1m (£870,000) by Italy’s competition authority (AGCM) for publishing “misleading and omissive” green claims on its website. The AGCM found the presentation of Shein's evoluSHEIN by Design collection risked misleading consumers about products' sustainability and recyclability, while Shein's net zero mission statements were "vague, generic and/or overly emphatic" and were contradicted by Shein's increase in emissions in 2023 and 2024. This follows a €40m fine against Shein in France for similar business practices. 

Beauty and personal care
ASA guidance on beauty and cosmetics claims

 The ASA has published advertising guidance for the beauty and personal care sector. The guidance reiterates that environmental claims must be based on the complete product life cycle (from manufacture to disposal), and where general claims cannot be backed up, brands should opt for more limited claims about specific products or ingredients. 

Energy

House of Commons Research Briefing: Fossil fuels, advertising and 'greenwashing'

The House of Commons has published a report assessing fossil fuel advertising, greenwashing and commenting on the ongoing debate in the UK and internationally about whether fossil fuel advertising should be banned outright. Whilst the report stops short of making any policy recommendations, it assesses the arguments both for and against a ban from a range of different stakeholders.

ASA 'Greener Homes' guidance

The ASA has published guidance on claims made in the heating and home energy sector setting out six top tips for marketers, including how to avoid greenwashing. These tips include ensuring any broad, absolute green claims like "environmentally friendly" or "sustainable are based on a robust full lifecycle analysis, and that claims do not exaggerate overall environmental benefits of products or services. 

Transport

21 airlines commit to change green claims practices

 Following an investigation by the European Commission and EU consumer authorities, 21 airlines have committed to change their green claims practices. This includes agreeing to stop claiming that the CO₂ emissions of a specific flight can be reduced or offset by consumers making financial contributions to climate friendly initiatives or alternate fuel use. Other commitments discussed include ensuring any CO₂ emissions calculations are displayed clearly and only using the term "sustainable aviation fuels" with appropriate clarifications to substantiate it.

Publications

RPC's ESG Evolve whitepaper provides insight on how businesses in the consumer brands and retail sector are navigating evolving ESG risk, regulation and opportunity. Following months of in-depth conversations with GCs, sustainability leads and in-house counsel across the sector, the whitepaper offers a candid view of how businesses are navigating ESG pressures while continuing to deliver value and progress. For further information about ESG Evolve and to get involve, please get it touch!