An Amsterdam court has ruled KLM's sustainable aviation advertising misled consumers
An Amsterdam court has ruled that Dutch national airline KLM made misleading statements about sustainable aviation in a case that accused the carrier of “greenwashing.”
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — In a decision hailed by an environmental group as a historic victory, an Amsterdam court ruled Wednesday that Dutch national airline KLM misled consumers in statements about sustainable aviation in a case that accused the carrier of “greenwashing.”
Amsterdam District Court said in a statement that in some advertisements, that are no longer in use, KLM “makes environmental claims based on vague and general statements about environmental benefits, thereby misleading consumers.”
The court said that in other cases, “KLM paints an overly rosy picture of the effects of measures such as Sustainable Aviation Fuels (made from renewable raw materials) and reforestation.” The court said such measures “only marginally reduce the negative environmental aspects and give the wrong impression that flying with KLM is sustainable.”
In a reaction posted on X, formerly Twitter, one of the groups that filed the case, Fossielvrij NL, called the ruling “a historic victory over greenwashing by big polluters.”