Consumer groups file a complaint against 17 airlines for greenwashing. Claims that buying offsets can “neutralise” CO₂ emissions from flying are “factually incorrect”

BEUC's complaint could stop EU airlines from greenwashing.

PHOTO Credit: @beuc

Aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. You wouldn’t know that from the aviation industry though. “Fly more sustainably”, “Offset your carbon emissions”, “We make sustainable flying even easier”, “Travel more sustainably”, “Fly more responsibly”, “Green by nature”, and “For the planet for the people”, are just some of the claims that European airlines are currently making in an attempt to reassure customers that flying is green.

On 22 June 2023, the Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs (BEUC) and 23 of its member organisations filed a complaint to the European Commission about the misleading climate-related claims made by 17 European airlines. The airlines include Ryanair, Lufthansa, Wizzair, Vueling, SAS, and Air France. BEUC is an umbrella group for 45 independent consumer organisations from 31 countries.

BEUC states that,

Claims that paying extra credits can “offset”, “neutralise”, or “compensate” the CO₂ emission of a flight are factually incorrect as the climate benefits of offsetting activities are highly uncertain, while the harm caused by the CO₂ emissions from air travel is certain.

In a statement, Ursula Pachl, BEUC’s Deputy Director General said,

“When it is crystal clear that air travel causes a significant and increasing share of greenhouse gas emissions, it beggars belief that airlines freely lure consumers with climate-friendly messaging such as ‘CO₂ compensated’ or ‘CO2 neutral’. We urge authorities to take the matter into their hands and crack down on this greenwashing practice seriously misleading consumers.

“Whether you pay a ‘green fare’ or not, your flight will still emit climate-harmful gases. Technological solutions to decarbonise aviation won’t become a massive-scale reality any time soon, so depicting flying as a sustainable mode of transport is pure greenwashing. At a time when many want to travel more sustainably, airlines should urgently stop offering consumers a fake peace of mind.”

Five categories of airline greenwash

BEUC groups the airline’s climate-related marketing claims (otherwise known as greenwash) into five main categories:

1. Airlines claiming CO₂ emissions for certain supplementary “green” fare are counterbalanced through emissions reductions from the use of offset credits, alternative aviation fuels, or both. This is notably the case of the Lufthansa Group (except for Eurowings) when claiming that “the choice of our Economy Green and Business Green fares will reduce 20% of flight-related CO₂ emissions by the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and offset the remaining 80% of the CO₂ emissions by an equivalent contribution to high-quality climate protection projects”.

2. Airlines offering a reduction (or compensation) of CO₂ emissions from flying in the form of supplementary services, usually based on offsets credit. For example, Eurowings proposes a service called “Fly more sustainably” marketed with the slogan: “let’s make flying more sustainable together: you can offset your flight’s carbon emissions”. Other companies like Ryanair, Volotea, TAP and Vueling propose similar services with similar claims.

3. Airlines claiming that passengers can financially contribute to the development of sustainable aviation fuels reducing future emissions. This is for example the case of Air France proposing to consumers that they pay between €42 and €138 for a flight between Paris and Copenhagen.

4. Airlines claiming that emissions from a specific flight are relatively lower than those of a selected benchmark. This is for instance the case of Norwegian, Air Baltic and Wizz Air.

5. Airlines promoting themselves as moving towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). This is for instance the case of Austrian Airlines with the claim “together with all Lufthansa Group companies, Austrian Airlines is on its journey to become carbon-neutral by 2050”, although current scientific evidence tends to show that even with continued improvements in aircraft technology and operations efficiency, the aviation sector could emit three times more GHG in 2050 than it does today.

BEUC’s call to the EU Consumer Protection Cooperation Network

The complaint has been filed with the European Commission and the EU Consumer Protection Cooperation Network. BEUC is calling on the CPC-Network to:

• Start a coordinated enforcement action and publish a joint position. This will be essential to send a clear and strong signal to the airlines concerned and to the entire sector about the misleading nature of climate-related marketing claims based on offsetting schemes and/or supposed use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels.

• Require airlines to stop misleading consumers through climate-related marketing claims and practices.

• Clearly inform consumers that whereas airlines may invest in climate-protection projects, the latter should not be presented or featured as neutralising, offsetting, or compensating flights’ emissions.

• Monitor the use of climate-related marketing claims by the airline sector and impose fines on airlines in the event that they would continue to use such claims (or a variation thereof) in a misleading manner.

• Request airlines to reimburse customers when they have proposed to consumers that they pay extra fees for flights presented as “greener”. If these amounts are small and the concerned consumers cannot be easily identified, the unduly received fees could be dedicated to an environmental or consumer protection cause, to be agreed upon by the CPC-Network.