When Dutch airline KLM launched adverts urging customers to 'fly responsibly' and think about the environmental impact before booking a flight, it said it was showing its commitment to a sustainable future. But the 2019 campaign sparked criticism and last year environmental activists filed a suit accusing the company of 'greenwashing', or making misleading environmental claims. The case filed by Fossil Free Netherlands highlights the dilemma facing airlines as they try to boost growth for shareholders but also convince the public they are taking steps to cut carbon emissions.
AMSTERDAM/LONDON - When Dutch airline KLM launched adverts urging customers to "fly responsibly" and think about the environmental impact before booking a flight, it said it was showing its commitment to a sustainable future.
Critics say those messages can't be reconciled, and a growing number of lawsuits, consumer complaints, and rulings from advertising regulators are seeking to restrict what sustainability claims airlines should be allowed to make. In June, European consumer rights body BEUC lodged a complaint at the European Commission against 17 airlines, alleging they use terms such as "sustainable", "responsible" and "green" deceptively.
KLM says its customers want to fly and helping them do so is the reason it exists. In preliminary hearings, its lawyers argued "fly responsibly" ads were well-intentioned. The ads suggested customers should consider purchasing carbon offsets or taking the train.KLM says it has already discontinued 19 communications it says form the core of the Fossil Free suit.
Saying one airline is planting trees or that one is less polluting than another is misleading when every flight for years to come will emit carbon dioxide, she said. Airlines reject comparisons with tobacco, saying flying has clear economic benefits that smoking does not.In Brussels, industry group Airlines for Europe says carriers must be allowed to publicly demonstrate their progress.
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