The Backstory Brief
A fortnightly read on what regulators, retailers and auditors are actually accepting as evidence. For the people who have to substantiate something.
3
of 1,233
PLOS Climate
Researchers assessed 1,233 environmental claims made by the 33 largest meat and dairy companies. Three were supported by scholarly scientific evidence.
1,213 of them, 98%, carried at least one greenwashing indicator.
Why now
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On 27 September 2026, Directive (EU) 2024/825 starts applying and a large amount of existing packaging copy becomes illegal.
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The companion directive that would have defined what counts as proof was announced for withdrawal on 20 June 2025 and remains blocked.
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Enforcement sits with national authorities, each reading it their own way.
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And the burden of proof sits with the seller.
In the first issues
01
The rule lands in five weeks. The document explaining how to comply with it was withdrawn last year.
02
Why good companies keep landing on the wrong side of that number.
03
The market has already responded to the evidence problem. It chose the one answer that makes things worse.
Every second Tuesday. Roughly a seven minute read. No pitch.
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