Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition: What the new EU rules mean for fashion, textiles and SMEs

10th November 2026

10:00 – 11:00 AM (GMT)
11:00 – 12:00 PM (CET)
Via Teams

Organised by The Centre for Sustainable Design® at UCA in association with The British Standards Institution.

Introduction

Join us for a free webinar exploring the EU’s Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (ECGT) Directive (EU) 2024/825 and its implications for the fashion, clothing and textile sector, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

With the new rules applying from 27 September 2026, this session will provide an overview of the Directive’s key requirements, including environmental claims, sustainability labels, carbon neutrality claims and consumer information on durability and reparability. It will also explore the European Commission’s September 2026 Questions & Answers (Q&A) document, highlighting key clarifications and practical considerations for fashion and textile businesses in addressing greenwashing and adapting their sustainability communications.

This webinar is organised by The Centre for Sustainable Design® at UCA as part of the EU Just Fashion project. Just Fashion aims at accelerating climate transition in the fashion industry, by providing businesses in the partner countries with a reference framework and tools to shift their production methods, internal procedures and final products towards more sustainable models that are low carbon, circular and socially inclusive.

The webinar will be led by Professor Martin Charter and Sashini Jinasena from The Centre for Sustainable Design® at UCA.

Objectives

This webinar will help participants:

• Understand the ECGT Directive and its implementation: Gain an overview of Directive (EU) 2024/825, its key objectives, scope, requirements and implementation timeline.
• Explore the European Commission’s latest guidance: Understand key clarifications from the September 2026 Q&A relating to environmental claims, sustainability labels, carbon offsetting and consumer information.
• Identify implications for fashion and textiles: Explore how the new rules affect sustainability claims, product labelling, marketing communications and consumer-facing information across the fashion and textile sector.
• Identify practical considerations for SMEs: Gain insights into the actions fashion and textile businesses can take to review sustainability claims, strengthen supporting evidence and prepare for compliance.

Audience

This webinar is relevant for owners, product developers, sustainability professionals, compliance managers, standards practitioners and policymakers in EU-based SMEs and in the fashion, clothing and textile sector, as well as suppliers to the sector.

Agenda

• 10:00 – Welcome & Introduction
• 10:05 – ECGT Directive: Overview and Key Requirements
  • Context, objectives and legislative background.
  • Scope, implementation timeline and key requirements.
  • Environmental claims, sustainability labels and consumer information.
• 10:20 – European Commission Q&A: Key Clarifications and Implications for Fashion and Textiles
  • Overview of the September 2026 Commission Q&A.
  • Clarifications relating to greenwashing, sustainability claims and labels.
  • Implications for fashion and textile businesses.
• 10:35 – Practical Considerations & Action Checklist for SMEs
  • Reviewing sustainability claims and marketing communications.
  • Strengthening substantiation, verification and product information.
  • Practical steps for businesses adapting to the new requirements.
• 10:45 – Q&A / Discussion
• 11.00 – Close

Registration

The event is free of charge, but you need to register via rcarruthers@uca.ac.uk by sending your name, job title, and organisation. On receipt, you will be sent instructions to join the webinar.

Further information

For more information contact:
Ros Carruthers
The Centre for Sustainable Design ®
Business School for the Creative Industries
UCA
+44 (0) 1252 892772