Dutch environmental groups sue KLM for ‘greenwashing’

Bloomberg

KLM was sued by Dutch environmental pressure groups which alleges its “Fly Responsibly” ad campaign amounts to greenwashing, in one of the first such lawsuits to hit a major airline.
KLM, the Dutch arm of Air France-KLM, has run ads that give customers “the false impression that its flights won’t worsen the climate emergency,” breaching European Union rules, the Amsterdam-based lead campaigner Fossielvrij said in a statement. The lawsuit was filed in a court in the Dutch capital, according to Fossielvrij.
With commercially-viable alternatives like electric and hydrogen-powered jetliners still at least a decade away, carriers rely on measures like carbon offsetting to reduce their environmental impact. But such programs are usually voluntary programs customers have to fork out extra for.
The Netherlands’ advertising watchdog in April ruled that KLM’s promotion telling customers they could fly emission-free is misleading.
The ad’s tag line, “Be a hero, fly CO2 zero,” is an absolute claim, the Dutch Advertising Code Committee said in its verdict. As such, the company has the burden of proving that statement to be true and didn’t meet that test, the committee said.
KLM says on its website its customers have the option of donating towards reforestation projects with its own offset project. In exchange, KLM says it buys certified carbon credits
for a reforestation project in Panama. These programs are common practice in the aviation industry. A representative for the airline said no one was available to comment on the lawsuit.
European regulators are taking a much tougher stance on suspicions of greenwashing in other industries too.