Launch of a coordinated action by CPC authorities against suspected greenwashing practices by airlines

Following the alert submitted by European consumer organisations of the BEUC network in June 2023 , the CPC-Network, under the coordination of the Belgian Directorate General for Economic Inspection, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, the Norwegian Consumer Authority and the Spanish Directorate General of Consumer Affairs sent letters to 20 airlines identifying a list of potentially misleading practices and noting that “the airlines are yet to clarify whether such claims can be substantiated based on sound scientific evidence”.  Specifically, the European Commission and the CPC-Network identified 6 types of suspected misleading practices.

This document, produced with the support of ClientEarth, aims to set out the key factual and scientific evidence relating to the claims considered potentially misleading by the CPC Authorities, including a comparison of each type of claim with a hypothetical version of the claim which properly reflects the appropriate factual evidence. It focuses in particular on the topics of ‘offsetting’ claims, alternative fuels claims, future environmental performance claims and comparative claims. We also rely on the legal argumentation and report that accompanied the alert in June 2023.