{"id":13550,"date":"2024-05-14T13:13:54","date_gmt":"2024-05-14T10:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=13550"},"modified":"2024-08-12T15:11:37","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T12:11:37","slug":"why-are-airlines-and-eu-regulators-clashing-over-greenwashing-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=13550","title":{"rendered":"Why are airlines and EU regulators clashing over greenwashing claims?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On 30 April, the European Commission officially notified 20 airlines that they had been found to make unsupported or ambiguous green claims, in other words, greenwash, giving them 30 days to either prove the claims are based on scientific evidence or present a plan to redress the issues.<\/p>\n

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1.\u00a0<\/mark>Background<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In June 2023, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) filed a complaint with the European Consumer Protection Cooperation network (CPC) about\u00a017 airlines<\/a>\u00a0making misleading statements about their sustainability. The airlines flagged last year were Air Baltic, Air Dolomiti, Air France, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Finnair, KLM, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Ryanair, SAS, SWISS, TAP, Volotea, Vueling and Wizz Air.<\/p>\n

At the time, BEUC condemned the companies for making factually incorrect claims about paying extra for credits that can \u201coffset\u201d, \u201cneutralise\u201d or \u201ccompensate\u201d the CO2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions of a flight, as well as misleadingly charging customers more for the development of SAF. Moreover, BEUC called the airlines deceptive for suggesting that flying can be \u201csustainable\u201d, \u201cresponsible\u201d or \u201cgreen\u201d.<\/p>\n

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2.<\/mark>\u00a03 more airlines<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Following up in that complaint, the European Commission has found that the greenwashing accusations are grounded and has added 3 more, yet undisclosed airlines, to the list. The investigation focused on claims made by airlines that the CO2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions caused by a flight could be offset by climate projects or through the use of sustainable fuels, to which the consumers could contribute by paying additional fees.<\/p>\n

The authorities are concerned that the identified practices can be considered as misleading actions\/omissions, prohibited under Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the\u00a0Unfair Commercial Practices Directive<\/a>. Among identified practices are:<\/p>\n