A German court has ruled: Lufthansa can no longer boast about “carbon-neutral” flights. On Monday, March 24, the court prohibited the airline from promoting carbon offsetting as an effective means of neutralizing the carbon footprint of its passengers. This is a landmark decision in the fight against greenwashing.
The case was brought to court by the environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), which denounced misleading advertising messages. Lufthansa claimed that its passengers could offset the emissions from their flights by contributing to climate protection projects. One slogan even mentioned the possibility of “reducing or capturing” CO₂ in the long term. For the Cologne court, this promise is unfounded: the company has not concretely demonstrated how these mechanisms ensure real carbon neutrality.
An exemplary ruling against greenwashing
Jürgen Resch, director of DUH, praised “one of the most important decisions against deception and greenwashing.” He reminded that aviation is one of the most polluting sectors and deemed it “particularly reprehensible” to sell an ecological conscience to travelers in exchange for financial contributions.
Lufthansa, for its part, announced that it would carefully review this ruling. However, this case is part of a broader trend: the airline had already been criticized in December 2023 by the British Advertising Authority (ASA) for similar campaigns.
The debate over carbon offsetting continues to gain momentum in Europe. In 2024, a court in Amsterdam condemned KLM for misleading advertisements. A few weeks later, the European Commission reprimanded 20 airlines suspected of similar practices, imposing a compliance deadline of 30 days.
This new sanction against Lufthansa illustrates the growing vigilance of regulators regarding exaggerated ecological promises. A strong signal sent to companies tempted to soften their image at the expense of scientific truth.