The natureOffice Label

The natureOffice label has accompanied many of our customers for many years. During this time, both the practice of CO₂ accounting and the requirements for sustainability communication have evolved significantly.

Today, the collection of emission data is part of normal business practice in many industries – similar to other technical or qualitative product characteristics.

At the same time, the rules governing how such information may be communicated are becoming more precise. Companies increasingly need to pay attention to how environmental information is presented and what kind of claims are associated with it.

Against this background, we have further developed our labelling system. The objective remains unchanged:
company information and emission data should be documented transparently and made accessible in a traceable way.

The EmpCo Directive (“Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition”) is a European regulation that clarifies the requirements for environmental and sustainability claims in corporate communication.

The aim of the directive is to provide consumers with clearer and more understandable information. At the same time, misleading or overly broad environmental claims are intended to be avoided.

Many companies are therefore currently reviewing their sustainability communication and adapting individual elements. We, too, have further developed our labelling system against this background.

The new natureOffice label is designed as a unified label for both products and companies. 

It contains a unique ID and a QR code. Both lead to a digital entry in the Corporate Contribution Network.

The label itself does not make a statement about a product or a company. Rather, it serves as an access point to the documented information stored digitally.

This creates a clear distinction between the label itself and the information to which it refers.

When the QR code is scanned, users are taken directly to the digital entry of the respective company.

This entry is presented as the Corporate Contribution Record. There, the related information is documented in a structured and traceable way.

The entry may include, for example, information on company data, climate data, projects or other contributions. The information is presented in a modular format without ranking or evaluation.

The Corporate Contribution Record is the digital company entry within the Corporate Contribution Network.

It can best be understood as a structured company page on which provided information is documented. This may include, for example, basic company information, published data or different contribution areas.

The structure is modular. Companies can add different types of information and expand the entry over time. In this way, a traceable company entry within the network is built step by step.

What is important is this:
the Corporate Contribution Record does not constitute a certification or an evaluation. It serves exclusively for the structured documentation of information provided.

No.

The new natureOffice label can be used for both products and companies.

Many companies use it, for example, on products, in company reports, on websites or in sustainability-related information. In all cases, the label serves as an access point to the digitally documented information in the Corporate Contribution Record.

Products that have already been produced or delivered generally do not need to be actively recalled.

Companies are usually not required to withdraw products that are already on the market retrospectively. In practice, a proactive recall campaign towards retailers is also generally not to be expected.

For new production runs, however, we recommend switching to the new label as early as possible.

No.

Based on the current assessment, it is not necessary to destroy goods that have already been produced. The same applies here: products that have already been manufactured or delivered can generally remain on the market.

For future production runs, however, we recommend using the new label. This ensures that your labelling remains consistent in the long term.

The relevant legal date in connection with the new European requirements is 27 September 2026.

However, we recommend that our customers switch to the new label as early as possible – especially for new publications or new product runs.

The previous logos will only remain available in our systems until the end of March.
We therefore ask our customers not to use existing collective logos and previous label variants going forward, and to replace them step by step with the new label.

This ensures that your labelling remains uniform and consistent in the long term.

Guidance on the use of the label is summarised in the natureOffice Logo Guideline.

There you will find, among other things, information on the different label variants, minimum sizes, placement and recommended areas of use.

The updated logo guideline is currently being finalised and will be available for download shortly.