Compliance · United Kingdom
The CMA no longer has to take you to court.
Since April 2025 the Competition and Markets Authority can decide a consumer law breach, order changes and fine you directly. Green claims are squarely in scope.
Book a discovery call →What changed on 6 April 2025.
The unfair commercial practices provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 came into force, replacing the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
The CMA can now investigate, decide that the law has been broken, order changes and impose fines itself, through administrative proceedings rather than the courts. Fines reach 10 per cent of worldwide turnover, including the turnover of parent companies and subsidiaries.
It does not say greenwashing. It does not need to.
The Act contains no greenwashing-specific provision. It does not need one. A misleading environmental claim that causes a consumer to make a decision they would not otherwise have made is a misleading practice, and that is enough.
Most of what we see is not deception. It is greenwishing: a claim made in good faith about an outcome the brand hopes to reach, described as though it has already been reached. Under this regime, the intent behind the wording does not change how it is judged. The question is what evidence sits behind the words on the label.
Fashion is not a hypothetical target.
In March 2024 the CMA obtained undertakings from Boohoo, ASOS and Asda, concluding its investigation into misleading environmental claims, and published an open letter to the fashion retail sector alongside them.
The undertakings set expectations that green claims be accurate and evidenced, that material claims such as organic or recycled be specific rather than vague, and that percentages of recycled or organic fibre be clearly visible.
Source: Competition and Markets Authority, March 2024.
One year of direct enforcement.
In April 2026 the CMA reported on its first year under the new regime, including £760,000 refunded to consumers and £4.7 million in fines imposed.
Source: Competition and Markets Authority, Direct consumer enforcement: one year on, April 2026.
Two regimes, one evidence base.
The UK route runs through consumer law and the CMA. The EU route runs through EmpCo, Directive (EU) 2024/825, which applies from 27 September 2026 and bans self-declared sustainability labels.
A brand selling into both needs one substantiation file that satisfies both, not two marketing reviews.
What you get
Deliverables
Claims inventory
Every environmental claim you currently make, across packaging, site and advertising.
Substantiation test
Each claim against the evidence you actually hold.
Lifecycle check
Whether a claim about one stage conceals impact at another.
Fibre claim review
Organic, recycled and material percentage claims, specifically.
UK and EU alignment
One evidence base against both DMCC and EmpCo.
Sign-off process
Who approves a claim, and on what basis.
Related: the EU side of the same obligation. See EmpCo and green claims.
This is a regulatory diagnostic, not legal advice. Confirm your final position with qualified counsel.
Find out which of your claims would survive.
A claim-by-claim review of what you say publicly and the evidence you hold behind it, against both the DMCC regime and EmpCo.
Book a discovery call →