EC commences action against 20 airlines for 'misleading green claims'

European Commission (EC) and EU consumer authorities announced (30-Apr-2024) they sent letters to 20 airlines "identifying several types of potentially misleading green claims", following an alert from the European Consumer Organisation. The national regulators involved are Belgian, Dutch, Norwegian and Spanish. The Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC) and the EC stated the misleading practices included:

• Creating the incorrect impression that paying an additional fee to finance climate projects with less environmental impact or to support the use of alternative aviation fuels can reduce or fully counterbalance the CO2 emissions;
• Using the term 'sustainable aviation fuels' (SAF) without clearly justifying the environmental impact of such fuels;
• Using the terms 'green', 'sustainable' or 'responsible' in an absolute way or use of other implicit green claims;
• Claiming the airline is moving towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions or any future environmental performance, without clear and verifiable commitments, targets and an independent monitoring system;
• Presenting consumers with a 'calculator' for the CO2 emissions of a specific flight, without providing sufficient scientific proof on whether such calculation is reliable and without the information on the elements used for such calculation;
• Presenting consumers with a comparison of flights regarding their CO2 emissions, without providing sufficient and accurate information on the elements the comparison is based on.

The companies were invited to provide a response within 30 days, outlining their proposed measures to address the concerns. After receiving the replies, the EC will organise meetings with the CPC network and the airlines to discuss the solutions proposed by the companies. The EC will monitor the implementation of the agreed upon changes. If the airlines involved do not take the necessary steps to solve concerns raised in the letter, CPC authorities can decide to take further enforcement actions, including sanctions. [more - original PR]