Airlines on Notice: Environmental Groups Target Sustainability Claims After KLM Greenwashing Verdict

Fossielvrij NL, Reclame Fossielvrij, and ClientEarth have teamed up and sent a joint legal letter to a group of 71 airlines operating out of Schiphol airport, the Netherlands. The letter warns the airlines on the legal boundaries surrounding sustainability claims in aviation, following a ruling by the Amsterdam District Court against KLM. The environmental groups are urging the airlines to revise their advertising strategies to comply with the clarified legal standards.

The KLM Greenwashing Verdict

The Amsterdam court’s judgment in March 2024 has set a precedent, establishing clear guidelines for airlines’ claims about climate action, alternative fuels, and CO2 compensation. The ruling emerged from a greenwashing case filed by Fossielvrij NL and ClientEarth, which accused KLM of misleading advertising through its ‘Fly Responsible’ campaign and CO2ZERO product. The court’s decision, which KLM chose not to appeal, referenced the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive as implemented in Dutch law.

In setting out the implications of the ruling for airlines, the three groups in their recent legal letter explain the judgment into three different types of claims:

1. Claims about climate action: Airlines that continue to push economic growth over sustainable objectives, should not be claiming to be acting in line with the Paris Agreement. Moreover, environmental impacts of proposed measures should not be overstated.  
   

2. Claims about alternative fuels: Promotions of ‘sustainable aviation fuel’ must be scientifically accurate and not misrepresented as a major solution to aviation’s environmental impact.  
   

3. Claims about CO2 compensation: Airlines should not make any sustainability claims about offsetting programs, as there is no direct correlation between financial contributions to these programs and the actual CO2 emissions from flights.

Greenwashing Allegations Against Airlines

The pressure is mounting for genuine sustainable practices and honest communication by airlines. More (legal) action against airlines over their greenwashing practices has taken off in Europe and beyond.

The European Union

In April 2024, the European Commission started a legal procedure by sending letters to 20 airlines to identify the potentially misleading green claims. The 20 airlines were urged to comply with EU consumer law within 30 days of the communication. Similar to the letter sent by Fossielvrij NL, Reclame Fossielvrij, and ClientEarth, the European Commission highlighted climate action claims, sustainable aviation fuels, and CO2 offsetting as potentially misleading practices. Additionally, they also include among such practices the use of carbon calculators and comparisons of CO2 emissions between different flights. Describing the action, Věra Jourová, Vice-President for Values and Transparency at the European Commission, said “[…] The Commission is fully committed to empowering consumers in the green transition and fighting greenwashing. We expect airlines, as well as any other industry operator, to make a responsible use of environmental claims”.

The United Kingdom

 

The United Kingdom saw complaints filed against British Airways and Virgin Atlantic through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) complaints mechanism last year. The complaints urge airlines that “communicate directly with customers and prospective customers about [sustainability], to be honest and accurate about what they can actually achieve to reduce emissions while continuing to fly”.

 

The United States

A class action lawsuit is ongoing in the State of California against Delta Air Lines Inc. The airline is accused of “grossly misrepresenting the total environmental impact of its business operations in its advertisements, corporate announcements, and promotional materials and thereby attaining underserved market share and extracting higher prices from consumers”. Delta Air Lines referred to itself as “the world’s first carbon-neutral airline” because of its carbon offsetting activities.

Australia

Flight Free Australia filed a complaint against Etihad Airways with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in 2023. The complaint followed certain statements in the airline’s advertisements, including “Flying shouldn’t cost the earth” and “Net zero emissions by 2050”. Flight Free Australia contends that these claims are contrary to the company’s own sustainability report forecasts, which predicted an increase in emissions. Moreover, the environmental group claims that “Etihad has no credible path to net zero”.