An Amsterdam court has ruled KLM's sustainable aviation advertising misled consumers

FILE - A cameraman films the Logo of Dutch airline KLM at the Cologne Bonn Airport in Cologne, western Germany, Sept. 26, 2008. In a decision hailed by environmental groups as a historic victory, an Amsterdam court ruled Wednesday, March 20, 2024, that Dutch national airline KLM made misleading statements about sustainable aviation in a case that accused the carrier of 鈥済reenwashing.鈥 (AP Photo/Roberto Pfeil, File)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) 鈥 In a decision hailed by an environmental group as a historic victory, an Amsterdam court ruled Wednesday that Dutch national airline KLM misled consumers in statements about sustainable aviation in a case that accused the carrier of 鈥済reenwashing.鈥

Amsterdam District Court said in a statement that in some advertisements, that are no longer in use, KLM 鈥渕akes environmental claims based on vague and general statements about environmental benefits, thereby misleading consumers.鈥

The court said that in other cases, 鈥淜LM paints an overly rosy picture of the effects of measures such as Sustainable Aviation Fuels (made from renewable raw materials) and reforestation.鈥 The court said such measures 鈥渙nly marginally reduce the negative environmental aspects and give the wrong impression that flying with KLM is sustainable.鈥

In a reaction posted on X, formerly Twitter, one of the groups that filed the case, Fossielvrij NL, called the ruling 鈥渁 historic victory over greenwashing by big polluters.鈥

Greenwashing refers to claims that aim to deceive the public about how environmentally friendly a product, policy or organization is.

The groups that KLM violated European consumer law by misleading customers with ads and a carbon offset program that 鈥済ive a false impression over the sustainability of its flights and plans to address its climate harm.鈥

The court did not order KLM to rectify the advertisements, and 鈥渄oes not have to warn consumers that current aviation is not sustainable.鈥 But it said that if the airline 鈥渋nforms consumers about its ambitions in the area of 鈥嬧婥O2 reduction, for example, it must do so honestly and concretely.鈥

In a written reaction, KLM acknowledged: 鈥淥ur communication about sustainability must be honest and transparent.鈥

鈥淲e are pleased that the court has ruled that we can continue to communicate with our customers and partners about our approach to making aviation more sustainable. We are continuously learning how best to include them in this,鈥 it added.

__

Follow AP鈥檚 coverage of climate issues at

香港六合彩挂牌资料. All rights reserved.

More Environment Stories

Sign Up to Newsletters

Get the latest from 香港六合彩挂牌资料 News in your inbox. Select the emails you're interested in below.