Campaigners have heralded a “landmark victory in the fight against greenwashing” after Dutch airline KLM was found to have acted illegally when it said its customers could “fly sustainably”.
In the greenwashing case, an Amsterdam district court ruled that KLM had acted illegally with misleading advertising in 15 of the 19 green statements it scrutinised.
These included statements on the KLM website about the virtues of offsetting a flight and a claim that KLM was moving towards a “more sustainable” future.
A claim that KLM was committed to the Paris Agreement climate goals was also found to be illegal, the court ruled.
The judge said that claims about the feasibility of KLM’s targets painted “too rosy a picture”.
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The case, brought by the campaign group Fossielvrij, could have wide ramifications, with campaigners pursuing similar type cases in other countries.
“This judgment is nothing short of a wake-up call for highly polluting industries and companies that try to sell the image of commitment to the Paris climate goals without having the plans to get there,” said Johnny White, a lawyer at Client Earth, which supported the lawsuit, the FT reported.
The airline, which no longer runs the claims, must convey to cut emissions “honestly and concretely” in future, the court said.
KLM said it was studying the ruling and said: “We consider awareness and communication about sustainability goals, activities and dilemmas essential.”
In Janaury this year, the European Union gave its final green light on a law that will ban carbon neutral claims, aiming to protect consumers against greenwashing.
Back in December, airline adverts from from Air France, Lufthansa and Etihad were banned by The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for greenwashing and misleading consumers about their impact.
