Dutch court to rule in KLM 'greenwashing' case

Toby Sterling and Joanna Plucinska
1 min read
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By Toby Sterling and Joanna Plucinska

AMSTERDAM, March 20 (Reuters) - A Dutch court was set to rule on Wednesday on a lawsuit alleging that KLM misled customers with an advertising campaign aimed at improving the company's environmental image, in a case of so-called "greenwashing."

The decision in the high-profile case comes as regulators and advertising authorities across Europe have increased scrutiny of companies' environmental claims.

KLM, which does not dispute that air travel contributes to global warming, denied misleading customers with the "Fly Responsibly" campaign, which it said was well-intentioned attempt to draw attention to the problem.

The suit, brought in 2022 by environmental group Fossil Free, argued that there is no way to "Fly Responsibly" as long as air travel is a major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions.

They asked judges at the Amsterdam District Court to rule the ads were misleading, force KLM to run retractions, and instruct the company not to run similar ads referring to the company's "sustainability" or similar in the future.

A written ruling by the three judge panel led by Judge Mette Jobsis is expected around 1100CET/1000GMT.

KLM, the Dutch arm of Air France-KLM has since discontinued the ads, but argued at a hearing in December the company should not be barred from communicating with the public about efforts it is making to improve.

The company plans to reduce its emissions over a period of years by purchasing more efficient planes and mixing more biofuel into the kerosene that fuels its fleet.

Fossil Free argued those future plans are not as relevant as the present danger, and such changes are marginal, especially as the company plans to grow flight volumes. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Jan Harvey)

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