March 2024 On 6 March 2024, the EU published the first directive to combat greenwashing, which was adopted by the EU legislation institutions in February 2024, namely the “Directive amending Directives 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU as regards empowering consumers for the.. Read more
On 12 March 2024, the European Parliament (“Parliament”) adopted its position on the Green Claims Directive (COM (2023) 166 final 2023/0085 COD, in the following “GCD”) and positioned itself in favor of strong legal regime for environmental claims (see here). While safeguarding.. Read more
Following litigation brought by the Austrian consumer association “Verein für Konsumenteninformation” (VKI), another court recently regarded carbon-neutral claims as misleading: An Austrian airline had advertised “carbon neutral flights” to Venice to attend the “Biennale” art festival. The VKI filed a.. Read more
On 29 January 2024, the Regional Court of Amberg made another decision concerning the advertising claim “climate-neutral” (“klimaneutral”) in which it held the phrase to be misleading (41 HK O 279/23). The defendant, a large supermarket chain, sold a coffee.. Read more
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the United Kingdom has banned a Toyota advertisement for promoting behaviour that is damaging to the environment. The advertisement depicted Toyota’s Hilux model driving off-road through rural and wilderness environments, which was intercut with.. Read more
On 19 December 2023, the Swiss Commission on Fair Trading (“SLK”), a self-regulatory institution of the advertising industry, published a new guideline on environmental and climate-related advertising (“Guideline”). This Guideline was developed in response to the increasing number of complaints in the.. Read more