Ressources
Cinq vérifications avant de publier une allégation de durabilité ou d'impact sociétal
From today, 27 September 2026, new EU consumer-protection rules under Directive (EU) 2024/825 (EmpCo) apply in Luxembourg.
For marketing and communication teams, this makes one question particularly important:
Can we support what we are about to say?
Sustainability and social-impact claims appear everywhere — on websites and social media, in campaigns, reports, presentations and sales materials. Before publishing your next one, here are five practical checks.
1. What are we actually claiming?
Start with the simplest question: what does this sentence say happened?
Evidence that an activity happened does not automatically prove that it changed people’s lives.
Before publishing, check that the statement does not go further than the evidence behind it.
2. What evidence do we actually have?
Once you know what you are claiming, ask: what supports it?
The goal is not to make every marketing sentence sound like an academic paper. It is simply to make sure that the wording matches what you can actually demonstrate.
If you know that six workshops took place, say that. If you also know how many people participated, you can say that too. If you want to claim that the workshops created a particular change, you need evidence of that change.
A stronger sentence is not necessarily better communication. A specific sentence you can support usually tells your audience more.
3. Are we taking credit for something we did not do alone?
Sustainability and social-impact projects rarely happen in isolation.
A company may fund a programme. An NGO may deliver it. A commune may provide the venue. Another partner may recruit participants.
Before publishing, ask:
What did we do ourselves? And what can we reasonably take credit for?
Good impact communication does not need to make your contribution sound bigger than it was.
4. Are we presenting a goal as if it has already happened?
An ambition is not an achievement.
Be clear about what has already happened, what is currently happening and what you are planning to achieve.
A strategy, commitment or target should not accidentally become a claim about a result that does not yet exist.
5. If someone challenged the claim tomorrow, could we prove it?
Imagine a client, journalist, regulator, investor or member of the public asks:
“What is this claim based on?”
Would your communication team know where to find the answer?
In many organisations, marketing writes the sentence, sustainability holds the data, a project team knows the context, a partner owns part of the evidence and management approves the final copy.
If nobody knows how those pieces connect, the problem is not only the wording. It is the process behind it.
That is the basis of good claim governance.
More questions rather than answers?
Register to our Can We Say That? — Free EmpCo Information Session
7 October 2026 | 18:00 CET
We will look at what has changed, what it means for everyday marketing and communication, work through practical examples and leave time for your questions.