For companies in the Netherlands, EmpCo mainly confirms a line that was already there. The ACM warned for years against vague terms such as “climate neutral” and “CO2 neutral”, the Dutch Advertising Code Committee rejected claims about carbon offsetting, and a court ruled that KLM misled consumers. Since 27 September 2026, part of that line is written into law.
This article explains how EmpCo is implemented in the Netherlands, what is banned, what the ACM expects, what earlier Dutch cases show and what to do with the claims you have. It is relevant for any company that sells to Dutch consumers, also from abroad.
The short answer. EmpCo applies in the Netherlands since 27 September 2026 through Book 6 of the Dutch Civil Code. Carbon neutral claims about products based on carbon credits are banned, generic climate claims about your company are only allowed with recognised excellent performance, company labels without independent verification are no longer allowed, and ambitions must be concrete and verifiable. The ACM enforces the rules, and competitors and campaign groups can go to the Advertising Code Committee or to court.
How EmpCo is implemented in the Netherlands
EmpCo is an EU directive that amends the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. The Netherlands implemented it with the Implementation Act on better sustainability information for consumers (Stb. 2026, 152), which amends Book 6 of the Dutch Civil Code. The act entered into force in July 2026; the new rules apply from 27 September 2026, the date set by the directive.
The offsetting ban is in art. 6:193g sub ae of the Dutch Civil Code: it is always misleading to claim “that a product, thanks to the compensation of greenhouse gas emissions, has a neutral, reduced or positive environmental effect in terms of greenhouse gas emissions”. The ACM is the supervisor. In its publication of 24 September 2026 (in Dutch), it calls on companies to review their current sustainability claims critically and take steps where needed.
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What is banned towards consumers
Claim or practice | Rule |
|---|---|
“Climate neutral”, “CO2 neutral” or “CO2 compensated” product because of credits | Always banned (art. 6:193g sub ae, Annex I point 4c) |
Generic environmental claims such as “green”, “eco-friendly”, “climate neutral company” | Only allowed with recognised excellent environmental performance |
Own company label without independent verification | No longer allowed; labels must be based on a certification scheme or set by public authorities |
Claim about the whole product when it concerns one aspect | Banned |
Future claim such as “net zero by 2040” | Only with a detailed, realistic and public implementation plan that is independently verified |
EmpCo also covers information on durability, reparability and software updates, but for companies that buy carbon credits, the claim rules matter most. What you can still say is a contribution claim: which verified climate projects you finance, without claiming that your emissions are cancelled. Our guide to carbon neutral claims under EmpCo goes through the rules claim by claim.
What earlier Dutch cases show
The ACM, the Advertising Code Committee and the courts were already critical of climate claims before EmpCo. Four examples:
Eneco, May 2024. After action by the ACM, Eneco stopped using the slogan “Sneller klimaatneutraal” (faster climate neutral) in consumer advertising. The ACM called it a pitfall to use general, vague terms such as climate neutral, CO2 neutral or sustainable (ACM, in Dutch).
Vattenfall, July 2024. Vattenfall stopped using “Fossielvrij leven binnen één generatie” (fossil-free living within one generation). The ACM wants ambitions to be concrete and measurable, for example “40% less CO2 emissions in 2030 compared to 2023” (ACM, in Dutch).
KLM, March 2024. In a collective action brought by the foundation Fossielvrij, the Amsterdam District Court ruled that a number of KLM’s advertising statements were misleading and unlawful (ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2024:1512). In April 2022 the Advertising Code Committee had already rejected the claim “CO2ZERO”.
“CO2-compensated gas”, December 2025. The Advertising Code Committee ruled that Eneco and Energie VanOns sold consumers “CO2-compensated gas” without properly substantiating the claim. One of the points: the credits came from wind farms that had been running for a long time.
The pattern is clear: vague neutrality claims and claims based on offsetting do not hold, and the quality of the credits is part of the assessment. With EmpCo, part of this is now a fixed ban instead of a case-by-case test.
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The ACM’s five rules of thumb, applied to carbon credit claims
The ACM’s guidelines on sustainability claims (second version, June 2023) set out five rules of thumb. Applied to companies that buy carbon credits:
Use correct, clear, specific and complete sustainability claims. Say what you finance, how much and under which standard.
Substantiate your sustainability claims with facts and keep them up to date. Keep registry retirement evidence, project details and volumes at hand, and update them every year.
Make fair comparisons with other products or competitors. Do not compare a product with credits to one without as if the first were cleaner.
Describe future sustainability ambitions concretely and measurably. “40% less emissions in 2030 compared to 2023”, with a public plan, rather than “on the way to climate neutral”.
Make sure visual claims and labels help consumers and do not confuse them. No home-made “climate neutral” logo; no leaves or green ticks next to offsetting text.
B2B, old stock and enforcement
B2B. EmpCo covers communication towards consumers. Claims that only reach business customers fall under the rules on misleading advertising (art. 6:194 of the Dutch Civil Code). A public website, a LinkedIn post or a press release can reach consumers; treat those as consumer communication.
Old stock. Packaging printed before 27 September 2026 gets no automatic exemption. According to the ACM’s note on old stock (in Dutch), authorities may take demonstrable old stock into account when enforcing, but expect companies to work towards full compliance in good time.
Enforcement. The ACM supervises the consumer rules. Consumers, competitors and campaign groups can also complain to the Advertising Code Committee or go to court, as in the KLM case.
What to do now
List your claims. Website, packaging, proposals, annual report, email signatures, LinkedIn.
Remove offsetting claims about products. “CO2 neutral”, “climate neutral” or “CO2 compensated” based on credits is no longer allowed towards consumers.
Rewrite them as contribution claims. What you financed, how much, which standard, and that it does not reduce your own emissions. Our guide to contribution claims gives wording per channel.
Check your labels. Company labels without independent verification have to go.
Make ambitions concrete. A number, a year, a base year and a public plan.
Record the evidence. Registry retirements in your company’s name, project details and a public page.
Tip from Bernard de Wit, Co-founder of Regreener: “Anyone who followed the Dutch rulings of the past few years could see this coming. In the compensated-gas case, the Advertising Code Committee looked at the credits as well as the words: wind farms that had been running for years. Good wording does not rescue a weak credit. Start with the quality of what you buy, and write the claim after that.”
That is why Regreener assesses every project against our 100+ datapoint quality framework before we offer it. And for the background on why the Green Claims Directive stalled while EmpCo went ahead, see the EU Green Claims Directive: status in 2026.
Test your claims
Regreener’s free EmpCo Claim Checker tests claims about carbon credits against the rules that apply now: answer three questions per claim and get the outcome, the legal source and wording you can use instead. Test your climate claims against EmpCo, or talk to a Climate Strategist about the credits behind your claims.
