The European Commission's Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC) has sent warning letters to 20 airlines for the misleading practice of charging their passengers for carbon emission offsetting.
The CPC's complaint focuses on airlines' claims that CO₂ emissions caused by a flight can be offset by climate projects and the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), where passengers pay an additional fee as a contribution towards the cost of the SAF.
The authorities are concerned that the practice can be considered misleading or omitting essential information about offsetting.
The EC and CPC identified several types of misleading practices used by the 20 airlines, including:
- Creating the impression that the additional fee for climate projects and SAF will reduce or fully counterbalance the CO₂ emissions from the flights;
- Using the term ‘sustainable aviation fuels’ (SAF) without clearly justifying the environmental impact of such fuels;
- Using the terms ‘green’, ‘sustainable’ or ‘responsible’ in an absolute way or using other implicit green claims;
- Claiming that the airline is moving towards nett-zero emissions or any future environmental performance, with no verifiable commitments or targets;
- Offering consumers a ‘CO₂ calculator’ for emissions of a specific flight without providing sufficient scientific proof that the calculation is reliable and identifying which elements are considered in the calculation;
- Using these ambiguous calculations to compare flights regarding CO₂ emissions.
The airlines are required to respond within 30 days with an outline of proposed measures to address the concerns regarding their environmental marketing claims to adhere to EC and CPC consumer law. Alternatively, airlines may submit scientific evidence that substantiates their environmental claims that are being questioned.
If the airlines do not submit a response, CPC authorities can decide to take further enforcement actions, including sanctions, says the EC press release.
