Neutrality & offsetting claim
kohlenstoffneutral
Prohibited per seStatements that are prohibited under EmpCo without exception – e.g. blanket neutrality claims based on offsetting.
What does “kohlenstoffneutral” mean?
Carbon-neutral (kohlenstoffneutral) asserts a full balancing of carbon-related emissions, usually via offset projects. Such neutrality claims resting solely on offsetting will as a rule be treated as impermissible under the EmpCo directive from the cut-off date of 27 September 2026. There is already a risk of it being misleading today where it is not disclosed which emissions are captured, how they are calculated and by what means they are offset.
Why this term is risky
Claims that base climate or environmental neutrality essentially on offsetting emissions are considered especially risky under the EmpCo transposition. The new annex to the UCP Directive covers blanket neutrality claims based on offsetting; from the 27 September 2026 deadline they are regularly impermissible – regardless of whether certificates were purchased.
Legal basis
Anhang I Nr. 4c UGP-RL i.d.F. EmpCo (EU) 2024/825
The stated legal basis is an assessment, not a conclusively reviewed legal opinion and not individual legal advice.
Detected spellings & languages
- kohlenstoffneutral
- kohlenstoff-neutral
- carbon neutral
The scanner detects these and further variants across languages in sentence context.