Twenty-one EU airlines to stop charging passengers for CO2 emissions offsets

Brussels -“Would you like to fly more sustainably and reduce/compensate the CO2 emissions of your flight?” This is how Lufthansa requests an additional contribution when purchasing an airline ticket online. Now, the German airline and twenty other European airlines have pledged to change their misleading communication strategies and end greenwashing practices. In particular, they will stop claiming that the CO₂ emissions of a specific flight can be neutralised, offset, or directly reduced by financial contributions from consumers.

The European Commission announced this today (November 7). It has engaged in a dialogue with the civil aviation industry for months regarding green claims – environmental claims that have been deemed misleading by the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC). The twenty-one airlines that agreed to change their communication strategies are Air Baltic, Air Dolomiti, Air France, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Easyjet, Finnair, KLM, Lufthansa, Luxair, Norwegian, Ryanair, SAS, SWISS, TAP, Transavia France, Transavia CV, Volotea, Vueling, and Wizz Air.

Additionally, commitments also include: to use the term sustainable aviation fuels only with appropriate clarifications to support it, to refrain from using vague ecological language or terminology, or any implied environmental claims, to provide more information on claims about future environmental performance – such as achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions – with clear deadlines, achievable measures and the types of emissions involved, ensure that all calculations of CO₂ emissions are stated clearly and transparently, provide scientific evidence and sufficient information to support claims of improved environmental impact. 

“It is now important that the industry match these efforts by ensuring transparency and honesty in environmental claims,” said EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law, Michael McGrath. “Consumers deserve clear and accurate information about the true impact of air travel and the real efforts that can be made to increase sustainability.” The European Commission actually withdrew a proposal for a European directive on environmental declarations, which aimed to combat corporate greenwashing, this summer, when it was one step away from final approval, causing yet another controversy among the political groups that make up the majority supporting Ursula von der Leyen. 

The monitoring of the implementation of the commitments is entrusted to the national consumer protection authorities, as outlined in the timetable communicated by each airline. The authorities will also be able to proceed with coercive measures against companies that have not provided sufficient commitments or that do not implement these commitments correctly.