No more loose talk of eco-friendliness – this is how the new Greenwash Directive hits

The EU’s Greenwash Directive, which tightens the use of environmental claims, brought a lot of extra work to the Pyhätunturi ski resort. Others still have a job ahead of them.

“Aiming for the cleanest ski resort in the world”. A poster the size of a sheet greets visitors to the Pyhätunturi hotel, but soon it has to be taken down. But not because emissions reductions are no longer of interest.

The problem is in the word pure, or even the purest in the world. Such words are not allowed by the EU Greenwash Directive unless they are scientifically justified according to ever more stringent criteria. There goes a whole range of adjectives cultivated by destinations; such as carbon neutral, environmentally friendly and sustainable.

A much bigger issue is that Pyhä, which marketed itself as the first carbon-neutral ski resort in the Nordic countries, will have to abandon this claim. The lifts run on hydro and wind power and the tampers on renewable fuel, but a small part of the carbon neutrality of its own operations is based on offsetting emissions. That is no longer an option.

And, even more demanding: now the entire subcontracting chain must be taken into account in carbon calculation.

The marketing material has been renewed and is now being renewed for tens of thousands of euros.

– There are tickets, tags, signs, commercials and the biggest, of course, a website. There have been acute changes to the website, but they have not yet been updated, Toivonen says.

The man sits in the hotel room and reads a traveler. — The brochures in Pyhätunturi’s hotel rooms have been reprinted and the word carbon neutral has been removed, for example, says sustainability expert Jusu Toivonen.

The authorities intervened in Finnair’s advertisements

The need for a posture that requires the Green Wash Directive became obvious when the EU Commission noticed that 40 % of the environmental claims of products sold in the European market were without a basis.

In tourism advertising, Heinonen has drawn his attention, as it is to combine untouched nature into the tourist operator’s own environmental work.

– After all, it is not really related to the environmental impact of the tourist operator in any way whether to go to nature or next to the factory.

Pyhätunturi Ski Center advertisement in the lobby of Hotel Pyhätunturi. — Pyhätunturi needs to remove this poster from the hotel lobby. There will also be a start for our own eco-label.

The browsing of Lapland’s travel brochures quickly causes overdose of the words sustainable and responsible. It remains to be guessed whether fossil fuels are not used any more in the production of electricity and heat or for movement or something much more marginal. For example, the fact that towels are not changed every day if the hotel guest does not want to.

Many destinations advertise separately from plastic disposable dishes, even though the law has forced it for years.

So far, the FCA (KKV) has not intervened in the green washing of tourism except for Finnair. The airline advertised that it had acquired renewable fuel, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 80 %. The ad did not say that the share of renewable fuel in all fuel was 0.2 % of minimal.

According to KKV, environmental claims must be precise and clear, so that the overall effect of the environmental work becomes clear. With the Green Wash Directive, the Agency will have a lot more monitoring.

Own eco-labels will start with

A large part of the additional work required by the Directive has already been done in St. Piho, but the elevator station wall still needs to be lifted off a sign that has become unlawful. It advertises the renewable energy used by the elevators.

Such own environmental marks are mercilessly thrown into history. The Green Wash Directive only approves the logos and brands based on the officially recognized certification system.

A woman with an eyeglass is looking at the camera in the hotel lobby. — Irishwoman Denise Farrelly is on a week’s skiing holiday in the Holy Land with her companions. Only after booking her trip did she read about what the resort is doing to save the environment. “I understand this is one of the most progressive places in Finland,” says Farrelly, delighted.

Tourism researcher Kaarina Tervo-Kankare thinks that many smaller tourism businesses do not even know about new demands. The subcontracting chains needed to prove environmental acts are a big and money -consuming job for small businesses.

At the same time, the EU is preparing to further tighten the screw. We are now negotiating the Green Varite Directive, which would require the approve of the claims in advance to special inspectors.

The world is changing and demands are changing, says Jusu Toivonen, a responsible expert. He states that the Saint has enough to tell without adjectives.

Toivonen does not take the green washer.

– Carbon neutrality was understood in quite different ways in 2008, when it was taken as a holy goal. Yes, we have always tried to make sure we have done enough.