The government must "push harder" on the policing of environmental labelling, according to a committee of MPs.
They claimed that better information on products and services is vital for retail markets and consumer choice.
The environmental audit commission, in its report on environmental labelling, also called for ministers to encourage carbon labelling for all products.
The MPs described the development of carbon labelling as "crucially important", adding that it would have a "profound" effect on manufacturers and their supply chains.
The report pressed government to recognise the difficulties of using a 'one size fits all' label.
It recommended that the government should consider the use of environmental labelling along the same lines as food labelling regulation.
This could include the introduction of 'traffic light' or 'petal' schemes.
And the government should be prepared to legislate on the information if need be, the report added.
It stated: "To be effective, labels need to be as universal as possible and they need to be backed up by systems for audit and accreditation that will ensure the claims manufacturers make about their products can be verified.
"The government needs to put more resources into promoting better environmental labelling and push harder on setting the standards and parameters for labelling schemes."
But the report calls on ministers to tackle the growing problem of 'greenwash', where firms are able to make claims about how green a product is without substantial proof or suitable standards.
Colin Challen, chairman of the environmental information sub-committee, said: “The government has to act to deal with the problem of greenwash."
He called for clearer labels to help consumers make informed choices.
"The proliferation of labels means we urgently need a universal scheme to help consumers discriminate between products on the basis of environmental factors," he said.
"A robust labelling regime would also change the way many businesses behave and help drive up environmental standards across whole sectors of the economy."
MPs also criticised the "unacceptable" practice of some car dealerships which fail to display mandatory EU information on vehicle performance.
And they recommended a recognised system, with information monitored by a third party, to help fight a confusing range of different labels.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd