Green Activities Reform takes effect on 1.10.2026

In order to meet the requirements of the the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (EmpCo) Directive, Green Activities has updated its criteria and application process. The new criteria were published on 1 July 2026, and the changes will come into force on 1 October 2026. The most significant change is the gradual extension of the certificate validity to two years. There will also be a change to the audit cycle: in future, the audit will always be carried out in connection with the application for a renewal, i.e. every two years. In addition, companies offering animal programs will be subject to an unannounced inspection visit at any time during the 2-year certification period.

On this page we present the new criteria and certification process, according to which certification will take place after October 1, 2026. Certifications issued before this date follow the old criteria and certification process.

For technical reasons, applying on the application platform according to the new criteria will only be possible from October 5, 2026, and the first certifications in accordance with it will be granted in December 2026. However,  useful templates for reporting required according to the new criteria will be added here no later than week 34.

Description of the new certification process

The certification process has been defined more precisely than before:

As before, Going Green Oy represents Green Activities and is responsible for administering the certificate and orienting applicants to the application process. External auditors conduct the audit, which is carried out on-site in connection with each application. The certificate is issued by a party independent of Going Green.

The auditing and certification process meets the requirements of national legislation under the EU Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (2024/825), which will enter into force on September 27, 2025.

The certificate will be issued for 2 years at a time, but during the certification period, supervision will be carried out to check the timeliness of certain information reported annually. In addition, companies providing animal program services will be subject to an unannounced supervision visit during the certification period to ensure that the criteria for animal facilities, exercise and recreation activities are met.

Certification Scope

The scope of Green Activities certified companies and services has been defined more precisely than before. The scope takes a stance on, among other things, the following issues that affect the operations of the Green Activities applicant company:

  • activity programs produced by subcontractors, marketed by the company being certified
  • the share of motorized program services in the total program service activity
  • animal program services for which no species-specific criteria have been developed

We will publish more detailed information about the new system’s scope on this page by August 14, 2026, and it will apply to companies certified after October 1, 2026.

New Criteria

During the spring of 2026, the whole Green Activities Criteria was reviewed and re-developed in close collaboration with the most important stakeholder groups. The process included a Public Hearing that enabled anyone interested to contribute to the final criteria.  You can read more about the Review Process here (in Finnish).

Instead of the previous 6 chapters, the new criteria are now divided into three (3) chapters, which however contain the same areas as before. The new Chapter 1 (Administration and Monitoring), will also include monitoring of the company’s energy and water use, waste volume and annual carbon footprint caused by energy use.

The total number of criteria is smaller than before, both for imperative and guideline criteria. The new criteria presented here will enter into force on 1 October 2026.

The English translation of the new criteria will be presented on this page by August 14, 2026.

MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING

ACTIVITY PROGRAM SERVICES

TOURISM ANIMALS

As before, Green Activities criteria are divided into two categories:

IMPERATIVE CRITERIA

The imperative criteria set a baseline that an applicant must always meet when applying for the Green Activities label. If a company does not have activities related to a specific criteria section, those criteria are not applied.

GUIDELINE CRITERIA

From the first re-application onwards, the applicant company’s activities must meet all the imperative criteria of the Green Activities certification, as well as an increasing number of guideline criteria every year. The required score is shown in the table below.