Lapland tourism marketing under scrutiny as EU tightens greenwashing rules

The EU’s new greenwashing directive is forcing Lapland’s tourism marketing to rethink its bold sustainability claims and back them with solid evidence.

The bloc’s greenwashing directive bans vague marketing phrases like ‘clean,’ ‘carbon-neutral,’ ‘eco-friendly,’ and ‘sustainable’ unless these claims can be scientifically substantiated. Claims of carbon neutrality or emissions-free status can no longer rely on offsetting but must be based on certified systems.

The directive, approved in spring 2024, will be incorporated into Finnish law by September 2026, following a transition period.

As a result, many Lapland tourism campaigns are being forced to abandon their current marketing claims.

For instance, a banner-sized poster greeting visitors at the Pyhätunturi Hotel, declaring a goal of becoming “the world’s cleanest ski resort,” will soon be taken down. The wording no longer meets the new regulatory standards.

“We simply cannot prove cleanliness scientifically at the level required,” said Jusu Toivonen, sustainability expert at Pyhä Ski Resort.

Pyhä, which has marketed itself as the first carbon-neutral ski resort in the Nordics, must now abandon this claim too. While the ski lifts run on hydro and wind power and the snow compactors use renewable fuel, part of the resort’s carbon neutrality relied on emissions offsetting — a practice that is no longer permitted.

The demanding new rules require carbon calculations to include the entire subcontracting chain.

Updating marketing materials will cost the resort tens of thousands of euros, including changes to tickets, flyers, signs, advertisements, and the website, according to Toivonen.

“Urgent changes have been made online, but the full update is still in progress,” he added.

Exaggerated marketing claims

The need for stricter enforcement of the greenwashing directive became clear when the EU Commission discovered that 40 percent of environmental claims on products sold in European markets were unfounded.

Advertising has become so exaggerated that genuinely better products no longer stand out, and many consumers have lost trust in environmental claims altogether, according to Tero Heinonen from the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke).

Heinonen, who has studied environmental claims in Finland’s market, has particularly noted how in many tourism advertisements, untouched nature is often framed as an environmental achievement of the tourism operator.

“In reality, this has nothing to do with the environmental impact of the operator, whether the destination is in the middle of nature or next to a factory,” Heinonen said.

Finnair called out for greenwashing 

Flipping through Lapland travel brochures quickly reveals an overload of terms like “sustainable” and “responsible.” What remains unclear is whether this refers to avoiding fossil fuels in electricity, heating, and transportation — or something far less significant, like only changing hotel towels upon request.

Many destinations also advertise having phased out single-use plastic dishes, even though legislation has required this for years.

“In Finland, we already have quite a few vague claims that don’t hold up to critical scrutiny, but in many international destinations, the situation is even worse,” Kaarina Tervo-Kankare, a tourism researcher from the University of Lapland said.

So far, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) has only addressed greenwashing in the tourism sector concerning Finnair. The airline advertised purchasing renewable fuel that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent, but the ads neglected to mention that renewable fuel made up just 0.2 percent of total fuel consumption.

According to FCCA, environmental claims must be precise and transparent so that the full impact of an eco-friendly action is clear. With the EU’s greenwashing directive, the agency will have much more to oversee.

Environmental labels

Much of the additional work required by the directive has already been done at the Pyhä Ski Resort, but a now-illegal sign advertising the use of renewable energy for the ski lifts still needs to be removed. The sign features a leaf-shaped logo promoting the lifts’ use of renewable energy.

Such in-house environmental labels will be a thing of the past under the directive, which only recognises logos and marks based on officially recognised certification systems.

Tourism researcher Tervo-Kankare said many smaller businesses are unaware of the new requirements. Demonstrating environmental actions through carbon accounting, which includes subcontractor chains, is a significant and costly challenge for these companies.

At the same time, the EU is preparing to tighten regulations even further. Negotiations are underway for a green claims directive that would require pre-approval of such claims by designated inspectors.

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This story is posted on the Barents Observer as part of Eye on the Arctic, a collaborative partnership between public and private circumpolar media organizations.