2024 was the year European institutions clamped down on greenwashing by airlines, effectively warning them not to overstate the potential to decarbonize aviation.
First, in March, an Amsterdam court upheld a claim by environmental activist group Fossielvrij against an advertising campaign by KLM, pronouncing that ads "which suggest flying can be or become sustainable … are misleading and unlawful."
Then, in April, the European Commission announced it was actively investigating a complaint about airline greenwashing from BEUC, the body representing European consumer organizations, and issued a written warning to carriers to moderate their claims.
Playing a supporting role in both actions was Johnny White. Formerly a commercial disputes and litigation specialist with law firm Clifford Chance, for the last four years White has served as a lawyer for ClientEarth, a non-governmental organization that, in its own words, uses "the power of the law to protect people and the planet."
"What we have done in partnership with others is correct misinformation in business travel," says White, "clearing up the myths used in contravention of consumer protection law around sustainability solutions for air travel. The court judgment in KLM found that the airline had been exaggerating marginal steps, painting them into something they were not."
The BTN Group editorial team took the decision during 2024 to preference the phrase "alternative jet fuels" as opposed to "sustainable aviation fuel," and to highlight the controversial usage of the latter. Is White seeing others phase out such terminology? "Some industry actors are retreating from it, but the industry is not yet really internalizing the legal message," he says. "The direction of travel from precedent set in the KLM case is pretty clear that it is a misleading phrase and was seen to be unlawful."
But while Europe is getting tough on aviation with anti-greenwashing actions and expensive green regulations such as the Emissions Trading System, other parts of the world are imposing few such constraints. Asked if European airlines are being hammered unfairly within a global sector, White says: "The reality is that the consequences of burning fossil fuels are not fictitious and the losses that fall from those consequences are real. An airline fundamentally relies on globalized business and, with the trajectories we are on, it is not easy to see that globalized business will survive in a three degrees [of global warming] world. It’s important we have regulatory leaders. This is not a reason in my view for the EU not to pass the regulation that is needed."