Two years after the European consumer organization BEUC filed a complaint, airlines are still engaging in greenwashing, or using misleading environmental claims, according to Testaankoop/Test Achats and its European umbrella organization, BEUC.
While the situation has “slightly improved,” greenwashing remains the norm in the airline industry, according to the consumer organizations.
Still a widespread practice
The European Commission already rapped 20 airlines on the knuckles last year for misleading environmental claims, including big polluter Ryanair, Air France, KLM, and the Lufthansa Group, Europe’s major airlines. That happened after BEUC filed a complaint against 17 airlines with the same Commission in 2023.
Two years later, BEUC and its partners say that the situation has “slightly improved”, but greenwashing remains a widespread practice. Indeed, the two main misleading claims — exaggerating long-term sustainability goals and carbon offsetting — continue to be used prominently by certain airlines.
Increasingly popular
The consumer organizations also note that “green fares” are becoming popular and sometimes even reward consumers with discounts on subsequent flights, which can lead to more emissions.
Brussels Airlines also offers such green fares, notes the Belgian Testaankoop/Test Achats, which allows travelers to contribute to the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) or the CO2 emissions of their flight by investing in a climate protection project.
Or, members of the Miles&More program can earn badges by offsetting their CO2 emissions, thus becoming a ‘Climate Supporter’ or ‘Mindful Flyer’. “In this way, travelers are made to believe that they have chosen a sustainable form of transport, while it is a heavily polluting one,” says Testaankoop/Test Achats spokesperson Laura Clays.
Hope on Green Claims Directive
BEUC is, therefore, asking the European Commission to continue investigating greenwashing and to ensure that aviation marketing becomes more reliable. The consumer organization also hopes that the Green Claims Directive, a European law that will require companies to substantiate their environmental promises with evidence, can help put an end to misleading claims.
The Commission adopted the proposal for a Directive on green claims in March 2023. A 2020 study also found that a significant share of environmental claims (53.3%) provided vague, misleading, or unsubstantiated information about the environmental characteristics of products across the EU and a wide range of product categories, and that 40% of claims were unfounded.
