The Green Claims Code, explained for venues and event organisers

A plain-English guide to the UK Green Claims Code and the EU’s new rules, and what they mean for anyone marketing a sustainable venue or event.

If you market your venue or event as sustainable, green, or eco-friendly, two pieces of regulation now shape what you are allowed to say, and how you have to back it up. Here is what they are, in plain English, without the legal jargon.

The UK Green Claims Code

The Green Claims Code is guidance from the Competition and Markets Authority on how businesses can make environmental claims without misleading customers. It has been actively enforced since April 2025, and the CMA has the power to fine businesses up to 10% of global turnover for claims it deems unsubstantiated.

The Code boils down to a simple principle: if you say it, you must be able to prove it. Claims should be truthful, clear, not omit important information, and be backed by robust, up-to-date evidence. “We are a sustainable venue” with nothing behind it is exactly the kind of claim it targets.

The EU’s Empowering Consumers Directive

Running in parallel, the EU’s Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (2024/825) comes into force on 27 September 2026. It tightens the rules further, and in particular it targets generic environmental claims and self-declared labels that are not independently verified. For any venue or event that markets to, or operates in, the EU, it raises the bar for what counts as an acceptable green claim.

Both regimes point the same way: an environmental claim is only as good as the evidence behind it.

What this means in practice for venues and events

You do not need to be a lawyer to stay on the right side of this. A few practical habits cover most of the risk:

• Be specific. “We diverted a measured percentage of event waste from landfill” is defensible. “We are eco-friendly” is not.
• Show the evidence. Keep the data behind any claim, and make it easy to share. A claim you can substantiate on request is a claim you can safely make.
• Mind self-declared labels. Badges and slogans you have awarded yourself are exactly what the new rules scrutinise. Third-party verified claims are far safer.
• Separate your claims. If you buy renewable energy, that speaks to your electricity, not your whole footprint. Do not let one true claim imply a bigger one that is not.

Turn compliance into an advantage

It is tempting to see this as a constraint, but it works in favour of venues doing genuine work. If unsubstantiated claims become risky, then substantiated ones become more valuable. A venue that can hand over measured, verifiable data stands out precisely because vague competitors no longer can. The regulation quietly rewards the venues that were doing the real thing all along.

The safest position, and the most competitive one, is to measure honestly, keep the evidence, and be precise about what you claim. Everything the Green Claims Code asks of you is also, conveniently, what wins business in a market that increasingly demands proof.