Delta Air Lines faces a proposed class action lawsuit in a Los Angeles federal court over advertisements in which it touted itself as “carbon neutral” based on carbon offset purchases.
Companies are facing legal action for claiming their operations are 'carbon neutral'. This proves that green marketing misconduct has serious legal implications.
Whether it was Ryanair calling itself Europe’s “lowest emission airline” or Lufthansa saying it was “protecting the future” or Etihad referring to “sustainable aviation”, the airlines were told to avoid wording that could imply their activities were good for the environment.
The tactic of using words such as 'sustainable aviation' and 'lowest emission' without solid evidence is an element of greenwashing that clearly aims to build a false 'green' image.
Lufthansa, Etihad and Air France-KLM all faced a ban on some of their online advertisements by Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in December over accusations they gave a misleading impression of their environmental impact.
This is a legal and ethical risk (legal risk). The authorities (ASA) banned this airline's advertisement for manipulating environmental sustainability messages which mislead consumers.