As of September 27, 2026, Directive (EU) 2024/825, known as the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, introduces new requirements for certain environmental claims directed at consumers in the European Union. To help businesses, organizations, and public or private entities understand this new context, Biosphere Responsible Tourism (BRT) will host two free webinars in Spanish and English to examine the main practical implications of the Directive and how to communicate sustainability using clear, relevant, and verifiable information that accurately reflects the scope of each claim.
The way sustainability is communicated is evolving. Consumers, travelers, public administrations, commercial platforms, tour operators, and investors are demanding increasing clarity regarding the environmental and social commitments communicated by organizations. At the same time, the European regulatory framework is moving toward greater consumer protection against environmental claims that are ambiguous, insufficiently substantiated, or potentially misleading.
In this context, Directive (EU) 2024/825 represents a significant change in how certain sustainability-related claims must be presented when directed at consumers within the European Union. Its objective is not to prevent organizations from communicating their progress, but rather to encourage communication that is more transparent, specific, understandable, and supported by verifiable information.
To facilitate a practical understanding of this new landscape, Biosphere Responsible Tourism (BRT) is organizing two informational sessions aimed at professionals in management, certification, marketing, communications, and sustainability. The webinars will address the main changes introduced by the Directive, the environmental claims that should be reviewed, the requirements applicable to certain sustainability labels, and best practices for supporting each communication with documented evidence.
Although the content focuses on European regulations, the sessions may also be of interest to organizations established outside the European Union that market products or services in this market, target European consumers, or operate in jurisdictions that are moving toward similar criteria for environmental communication.
Biosphere Responsible Tourism will offer two independent sessions, with the same content adapted to different languages, to facilitate access for professionals and organizations from different international markets.
The sessions will take a primarily practical approach. Through real-world examples and accessible explanations, they will examine communication practices that may require review in light of Directive (EU) 2024/825, paying particular attention to environmental claims, the use of sustainability certifications and labels, and the organization of evidence to support the information communicated.
Beyond explaining the content of the Directive, the objective is to provide criteria that help organizations review their messages with greater legal certainty and strengthen the quality of their environmental communication through specific, contextualized, and verifiable information.
Sustainability communication plays an increasingly important role in the relationship between organizations and consumers. Expressions such as “sustainable,” “green,” “eco,” and “environmentally friendly,” as well as certain climate-related claims, frequently appear in advertising campaigns, websites, social media, and marketing materials.
Directive (EU) 2024/825 introduces new rules for certain commercial practices related to these types of claims when directed at consumers within the European Union. Among other aspects, it pays particular attention to generic environmental claims, the use of certain sustainability labels that do not meet the requirements established by the regulations, and certain climate-related claims based exclusively on emissions offsetting mechanisms.
Understanding these changes can help organizations identify potential risks in their communications, review existing messages, and strengthen the supporting documentation for claims related to sustainability commitments, initiatives, or results.
Beyond regulatory compliance, this evolution also reflects an international trend toward more transparent and substantiated communications. An increasing number of markets require environmental claims to be understandable, proportionate, and supported by objective information, allowing consumers, travelers, and other stakeholders to understand more clearly what is being communicated, the specific scope of each claim, and the evidence supporting it.
The webinar has been designed to provide a practical overview of the main changes introduced by Directive (EU) 2024/825 and help organizations identify aspects of their communications that may require review.
Rather than interpreting the Directive from an exclusively legal perspective, the session aims to translate its implications into the daily work of businesses, organizations, and public or private entities that communicate sustainability-related commitments, initiatives, or results.
During the webinar, issues that directly affect the development of content for websites, advertising campaigns, social media, sales platforms, reports, promotional materials, and other consumer-facing channels will be addressed.
The main objectives of the session include the following:
Review the requirements established by the regulations for certain sustainability seals, labels, and certifications, paying particular attention to the need to communicate their scope, applicable criteria, and verification mechanisms accurately.
The ultimate objective is not merely to adapt certain texts to the new regulatory framework, but to help organizations strengthen the quality of their communications through internal processes that promote information traceability, the updating of evidence, and consistency between what is done and what is communicated.
The session is intended for professionals and organizations involved in the planning, management, certification, communication, or marketing of sustainability-related initiatives.
Although many of the examples used during the webinar will come from the tourism sector, the principles addressed are applicable to numerous sectors in which organizations communicate environmental, social, or governance-related actions.
The content may be particularly useful for:
Although Directive (EU) 2024/825 is a regulation applicable in the European Union, the content may also be of interest to organizations established outside European territory that market products or services in this market or operate in countries where the regulation of environmental claims is evolving toward similar criteria for transparency and verifiability.
One of the main objectives of the webinar is to help organizations identify potential areas for improvement before certain expressions or messages raise questions about their scope or substantiation.
In many cases, sustainability-related communications have been developed over the years using terms widely accepted in the market. However, the evolution of the European regulatory framework and consumer expectations makes it advisable to review these communications to ensure that they accurately describe the actions undertaken, appropriately define their scope, and are supported by sufficient evidence to substantiate each claim.
This preventive review should not be understood solely as a response to a regulatory obligation. It also represents an opportunity to improve the quality of the information that organizations provide to customers, travelers, public administrations, investors, and other stakeholders, strengthening transparency and facilitating a clearer understanding of the commitments actually made.
In this regard, the webinar will provide practical examples to help identify common situations and introduce useful criteria for beginning a systematic review of environmental communications, progressively adapting them to the new requirements for clarity, accuracy, and verifiability.
Sustainability requires more than just taking action. It also requires explaining those actions in a way that allows the intended audience to clearly understand what is being claimed, the specific scope of the communication, and what information supports each message.
For this reason, a specific part of the session will be dedicated to organizing evidence and supporting documentation, demonstrating how proper information management can subsequently facilitate the development of more rigorous and consistent communications.
Having up-to-date documentation, defined criteria, and monitoring processes does not, in itself, eliminate the risks associated with communication, but it can help organizations formulate better-substantiated messages that accurately reflect the actual scope of their actions.
This perspective is particularly relevant in a context where transparency is no longer merely a matter of reputation but is also becoming an essential aspect of responsible sustainability communication.
The session will be structured into several thematic sections that will provide a progressive understanding of how sustainability communication is evolving in the European context and which aspects should be reviewed to adapt communications to the new requirements for transparency and verifiability.
The first part of the webinar will provide an introduction to the new European regulatory framework, explaining the Directive's implementation timeline, the main commercial practices it affects, and its relationship to consumer-facing communications.
The session will address the context in which this legislation emerged and how it fits into an international trend aimed at strengthening the transparency of environmental and sustainability claims.
This section will examine some examples of expressions and messages that may require more careful review.
These will include generic environmental claims, climate neutrality claims, absolute environmental promises, and other communications that, depending on how they are formulated and the available evidence, may present risks of misinterpretation or be insufficiently substantiated.
The objective will not be to create an exhaustive list of permitted or prohibited expressions, but rather to provide criteria to help assess when a claim requires greater precision, context, or supporting documentation.
One of the central sections of the webinar will be dedicated to communicating sustainability certifications.
It will be explained that behind a sustainability label, there must be an open certification scheme, with requirements defined through participatory processes, established consequences for potential noncompliance, and verification by an independent third party, in accordance with standards such as ISO/IEC 17065. Other essential elements will also be addressed, such as the existence of public and accessible criteria, a verifiable methodology, control mechanisms, a defined scope, and information that is understandable to consumers.
Based on these conditions, when communicating a label or certification, it is essential to clearly identify:
The importance of avoiding the extension of a certification's scope to products, services, organizations, or territories that are not part of the assessment process will also be examined.
The webinar will propose a simple methodology to help each organization conduct an initial review of its own communications.
A checklist will be presented to help identify potential areas for improvement in:
The purpose will be to help identify potential inconsistencies between the claims made and the information that can actually substantiate them.
During the session, the role that a certification system based on conformity assessment can play in facilitating more structured and substantiated communication will also be explained.
During the session, it will also be explained how the Biosphere Scheme supports Biosphere Certification, with the Responsible Tourism Institute (RTI) serving as the scheme owner, while Biosphere Responsible Tourism (BRT) acts as the certification body: it assesses compliance with the requirements and makes the certification decision. Under this scheme, BRT certifies businesses, organizations, and public or private entities responsible for tourism destination management.
The certification incorporates assessment, monitoring, and document review processes that can help organizations organize commitments, actions, and evidence, subsequently facilitating the development of communications that accurately reflect the actual scope of the certification.
In the specific case of destinations, the webinar will emphasize that certification applies to the entity responsible for tourism management and the activities included in the assessed scope, not to the territory as a whole.
It will also be explained that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are used within the Biosphere Scheme as a methodological framework for organizing commitments and documenting actions, without this reference implying endorsement by the United Nations or, in itself, demonstrating compliance with the SDGs.
One of the main objectives of this initiative is to enable attendees to put the webinar content into practice immediately.
By the end of the session, organizations will have a clearer understanding of the aspects that should be reviewed to progressively adapt their communications to the new European requirements.
Among other things, they will be able to:
Rather than offering standardized solutions, the webinar aims to provide a set of practical criteria that each organization can adapt to its own circumstances and the applicable requirements in the markets where it operates.
Good preparation will help participants make the most of the session and make it easier for each organization to subsequently apply the webinar content when reviewing its own communications.
It is not necessary to conduct an exhaustive analysis before participating, but it is advisable to gather some real-world examples that will help identify specific questions during the presentation.
Some of the most useful preparatory actions include the following:
This preparatory work will allow each organization to approach the webinar from its own circumstances and subsequently begin a more structured review of its communications.
The application of Directive (EU) 2024/825 creates a new landscape for organizations that communicate sustainability-related commitments, actions, or results.
However, adapting these communications does not simply involve replacing certain expressions or modifying some messages. It involves reviewing how actions are documented, how the evidence supporting them is organized, and how the actual scope of each commitment, label, or certification is explained.
Transparency begins long before a message is published. It requires having up-to-date information, accurately identifying what can be claimed, what documentation supports each claim, and how to communicate it in a way that consumers can understand.
In this context, the webinar organized by Biosphere Responsible Tourism aims to provide an initial practical framework to help businesses, organizations, and public or private entities begin this review process with clearer criteria, promoting environmental communication based on verifiable facts and a better understanding of the new European context.
The session represents an opportunity to learn about the main changes introduced by the Directive, resolve questions, and begin adapting sustainability communication through a preventive, rigorous approach focused on continuous improvement.
The Directive introduces new requirements applicable to certain environmental claims directed at consumers in the European Union, reinforcing the need for these claims to be clear, relevant, reliable, verifiable, and not misleading.
It is intended for businesses, organizations, and public or private entities that communicate sustainability-related commitments, actions, or results, as well as professionals in management, marketing, communications, certification, consulting, and regulatory compliance.
No. Participation is free, and access to the sessions does not require prior registration.
The main practical implications of Directive (EU) 2024/825, environmental claims that may require review, requirements applicable to certain sustainability labels, the organization of evidence, and some guidelines for reviewing sustainability communication will be examined.
Yes. The webinar will address aspects related to communicating sustainability certifications and labels, paying particular attention to the importance of accurately explaining their scope, the certified entity, and the verifiable information supporting each recognition.
No. Although many of the examples will be related to tourism, the principles addressed are applicable to any organization that communicates sustainability-related information.
Yes. Especially for organizations that market products or services in the European market, target consumers in the European Union, or operate in countries where the regulation of environmental claims is evolving toward similar criteria.
If you would like to learn more about the changes introduced by responsible sustainability communication, you may also be interested in:
We invite you to participate, ask your questions, and learn about the main aspects that should be reviewed.