Parliament on Tuesday began discussing a government bill aiming to crack down on ‘greenwashing’ – the practice of presenting commercial products as environmentally friendly when they are not.

The government wants to push through the legislation quickly, in order to harmonise Cypriot law with a relevant EU directive.

An official with the commerce ministry’s Consumer Protection Service said the proposed legislation would place the burden of proof on vendors.

Vendors, rather than producers, would be liable for making false or misleading representations about a product being eco-friendly.

In addition, such claims cannot be generic or abstract, but rather must pertain to a product’s entire life cycle – from manufacturing through to marketing.

Greenwashing is the deceptive marketing practice of making a company, product or investment appear environmentally friendly or sustainable when it actually is not.

Companies use several strategies to create a false ‘eco-friendly’ image. This includes vague buzzwords, such as undefined terms like ‘eco-friendly’, ‘natural’ or ‘green’ without any scientific backing or third-party certification.

The EU’s primary anti-greenwashing legislation, Directive 2024/825 (often called the Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition or Greenwashing Directive), bans vague, unverified and misleading environmental claims. It requires companies to substantiate all sustainability claims with concrete, independent evidence before they can be used in marketing.