Green Labels, Red Flags: Comparative Legal Pathways to Environmental Legitimacy in the European Union and the People’s Republic of China
Abstract
This article explores how greenwashing is regulated through environmental labelling in the European Union and the People’s Republic of China. Through a comparative analysis, it contrasts the EU’s ex-post model – based on substantiation and market supervision – with China’s ex-ante architecture of sovereign certification, grounded in the ideological tenets of ecological civilization. The study reveals how each system embeds environmental legitimacy within distinct legal, institutional, and political logics, offering a broader reflection on the semiotics of sustainability and the governance of credibility in the global green transition.
Submitted: July 16, 2025 | Accepted: Oct. 1, 2025 | Published Dec. 19, 2025 | Language: en
Keywords Greenwashing • State-led certification • People’s Republic of China • Comparative Law • Environmental claims
Copyright © 2025 Davide Clementi. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/RIDAO/3035-5591/2025/01/005