'Greenwashing' lawsuit against KLM

small quantities of biofuels, ClientEarth wrote.

The district court’s decision came after KLM informed the judge that it had dropped its ‘Fly Responsibly’ advertisements, which were challenged by the lawsuit.

A landmark greenwashing lawsuit against leading airline KLM has been granted permission to proceed to a full hearing by a Dutch court, environmental law charity ClientEarth reported on 7 June.

The lawsuit – the first of its kind to challenge airline industry greenwashing –claimed that KLM’s climate advertisements and carbon offset marketing breached EU consumer law standards by creating a false impression that its flights did not contrib- ute to the worsening climate emergency.

The District Court of Amsterdam had granted permission for Dutch campaign groups Fossielvrij and Reclame Fossielvrij to bring the claim, following a hearing in April, ClientEarth wrote.

Fossielvrij’s claim said that KLM’s marketing misled customers into thinking they could reduce their flight’s impact by supporting reforestation projects or the airline’s costs of purchasing

“But KLM continues to greenwash its growth ambition through other climate messages ... as long as the biggest polluters continue to lull us to sleep through their slick marketing campaigns, climate action will not happen,” Hiske Arts, campaigner at Fossielvrij, was quoted as saying.

The lawsuit also challenged KLM’s claim that the company was “creating a more sustainable future” due to its net zero target by 2050, which the campaigners claimed was contrary to its plans for continued business growth.

“KLM’s climate publicity push extends far beyond a single campaign," Johnny White, a lawyer from ClientEarth, said.

"This is not an isolated incident in the airline industry."