KLM taken to court by climate change activists for 'green washing'

Issue #10 of Sustainability in the Air Newsletter

Last week we talked about a report by a climate change charity, which claimed that UK airlines had only met one of 50 published sustainability goals over the past decade.

This week it’s the turn of Dutch climate change activists, who are taking KLM to court, claiming that its advertising is misleading and constitutes so-called ‘greenwashing.’

Quoted in CNBC, Hiske Arts, from campaign group Fossielvrij NL said: “KLM’s marketing misleads consumers into believing that its flights won’t worsen the climate emergency. But this is a myth.”

“We’re going to court to demand KLM tells the truth about its fossil-fuel dependent product. Unchecked flying is one of the fastest ways to heat up the planet. Customers need to be informed and protected from claims that suggest it is not.”

The basis of the group’s legal action is that KLM, like other airlines, plans on growth, which climate change groups say is incompatible with a sustainable future.

Hence they say that the airline’s ‘Fly Responsibly’ campaign’, is wrong as the airline will continue to be a contributor to climate change.

Ultimately, the aim of most climate change groups is to bring about a drastic reduction in flying.

Ideally, they’d like to see the lower levels of mobility that we saw during the pandemic to be the new normal, until there’s a viable net zero solution (and many climate change groups are sceptical on SAF).

As a result, we can expect any airline ‘green’ campaign to be under similar scrutiny in future, and airlines should be prepared for them to be challenged, sometimes even in the courts.

Positive story of the day

Cathay Pacific Becomes One Of The First Airlines In Asia To Target 10% SAF Use By 2030 (Forbes)

Sustainability news

• Finnair sustainability chief on why airline's action on climate-change is 'in our DNA (Flight Global)

• LATAM Airlines Group’s sustainability chief on targets, collaboration and SAF progress (Flight Global)

• Qatar executive steals the limelight on the opening day of EBACE 2022 (BTN)

• Using airport charges as levers for growth, efficiency and sustainability (Airport World)

• Green aims drive Turkish to Europe's sustainable forefront (Freight Week)