The German court forbade Lufthanse to claim that passengers can compensate for carbon dioxide emissions, described it as misleading and ordered the termination of these ads.
On Monday, the German court banned the airline of Lufthansa in its ads that passengers can “compensate” carbon dioxide emissions from flights because it is “misleading” claims. TASR reports according to AFP.
The court gave the right to the environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe, which brought an action. Lufthansa, which also includes Eurowings, Austrian, Swiss and Brussels Airlines, is studying the judgment and considering the possibility of appeal.
According to advertising, Lufthansa claimed that emissions could be “compensated” by financial contributions for projects that would “either reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the future or remove them from the atmosphere”. Lufthansa, however, did not prove this in court and falsely gave the impression that this payment could lead to carbon neutral flight, the court said. Therefore, he ordered that the air giant stop using these statements.
Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Jürgen Resch, said it was one of the “brightest, and thus the most important” court decisions in terms of “false advertising and Greenwashing”. In December 2023, the British advertising regulator ordered Lufthanse to eliminate the mention of “more sustainable” flying in commercials. He had a similar procedure against Air France and Etihad.
The aim of the Lufthansa Group is to reduce its net carbon emissions by 2030 in half compared to 2019 and by 2050 to achieve carbon neutrality, although the air sector is among the hardest in decarbonation.
