Whether and how companies may use the term “climate-neutral” in advertising was on trial before the German Federal Court of Justice “BGH” (judgment of 27 June 2024 - I ZR 98/23). The defendant company advertised with the statement “Since 2021, [the defendant] has been producing all products in a climate-neutral manner” and a logo that has supported the term “climate-neutral” since 2022, but only through climate protection projects via an environmental consultancy agency. However, the actual production was not CO2-neutral. The BGH has now ruled that, contrary to the assessment of the lower courts, this advertising claim is misleading.
After the numerous rulings on the subject of climate neutrality in recent years, it is good to now also know the current position of the Federal Court of Justice on the permissibility of environmentally-related advertising claims. The BGH confirms the strict view from its earlier rulings on sustainability claims.
The BGH has finally provided clarity regarding the understanding and substantive requirements of advertising with climate neutrality and applies a very strict standard that differs from the most recent ruling practice of the courts of instance. The statement ‘climate-neutral’ requires further explanation.
In the future, it will not be sufficient to provide further details of an environmentally-related advertising claim exclusively via a link or QR code; rather, the essential information for classifying the claim (here: measures to achieve climate neutrality) must be provided directly with the claim.
In the future, there will be some changes to EU legislation that will need to be taken into account for environment-related advertising. The Empowering Consumers Directive, which has already been adopted, and the planned Green Claims Directive mean that the situation remains of interest and the last word has not yet been spoken.
