The European Consumer Organization (BEUCfor its acronym in English) and more than 20 of the associations that are part of its network in different countries have filed a complaint with the European Comission and the network of consumer protection authorities (cpc) against 17 airlines operating on the continent. They accuse them of doing advertising and misleading claims about the weather o’greenwashing‘, the word used to distinguish apparently environmentally friendly practices that are actually just marketing strategies.
The joint statement, shared by the Federation of Consumers and Users CECU and collected by the Europa Press agency, highlights that airlines make marketing claims related to the climate in which they ask consumers to offset or neutralize CO2 emissions from their flights. “We believe that these practices are misleading and deceptive to consumers under the European Union (EU) rules on unfair commercial practices (Directive 2005/29/EC), and amount to greenwashing,” explained BEUC and subscribe To its end, CECU and the OCUthe three Spanish associations that have participated in this action.
In addition, these associations urge the authorities to send a “clear and forceful” signal to the airlines and to the entire aviation industry to “stop misleading consumers with weather-related commercial claims.” “Airlines should be transparent about what flying is not sustainable and that it will not be in the near future,” the statement added.
The 17 denounced companies are Air Baltic, Air Dolomites, air France, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, eurowings, finnair, KLM, lufthansa, Norwegian, ryanair, SAS, SWISS, TAP, flips, flying and Wizz Air.
unfair practices
As examples of “misleading claims”, the associations cite claims that “the payment of additional credits can offset or neutralize the CO2 emissions of a flight“. In his opinion, they are “objectively misleading” because “the climate benefits of compensation activities are highly uncertain.”
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Likewise, BEUC has denounced that airlines deceive consumers by “charging them more” to contribute to the development of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). “These fuels are not ready for the market and recently adopted EU legislation sets very low targets for the proportion they should represent in the aircraft fuel mix,” he explained.
In parallel, the OCU has filed a complaint with the Ministry of Consumption by misleading advertising on air travel sustainability. For this organization, it is “incorrect” to affirm that the greenhouse gas emissions generated by aviation are being offset or neutralized, “without providing reliable information to prove it.” For this reason, it has requested the General Sub-Directorate of Inspection and Penalty Procedure to assess the legality of this advertising and impose the corresponding sanction, where appropriate.