Dutch airline KLM is being hauled up in court over accusations its “misleading” advertising amounts to greenwashing, in what is believed to be the world’s first such case for the aviation industry.

Environmental lawyers Client Earth will argue the airline’s adverts and carbon offsetting scheme give a false impression of the sustainability of its flights and plans to tackle the pollution they cause. They claim this violates European consumer law.

Campaigners Fossielvrij NL, also bringing the lawsuit, today handed KLM a letter notifying them of the action at the airline’s AGM in Paris.

“KLM’s marketing misleads consumers into believing that its flights won’t worsen the climate emergency,” said Hiske Arts, campaigner at Fossielvrij NL. “But this is a myth.”

Unless KLM agrees to cease what campaigners describe as greenwashing, a Dutch court will begin examining the case. Sky News has contacted KLM for comment.

The lawsuit is the latest in a flurry of global climate litigation as campaigners increasingly take to the courts to pursue their aims, with particular success in the Netherlands.

Client Earth lawyer Jonny White told Sky News climate litigation was increasing “because of the state of climate.”

‘A sign of things to come’: India and Pakistan heatwave made 30 times more likely by climate change, study finds

‘They’re ignoring all the alarms’: Contractor resigns from Shell with warning to staff about ‘extreme harm’ to planet

Climate crisis: G20 countries dragging heels on COP26 1.5C promise, analysis warns

“The position is clear that we need to act urgently but that we are not,” he said.

“This engages law in so many ways: corporate, governance, judicial reviews, so that’s why we are seeing cases that respond to that legality.”

Cases will continue to increase in future, he predicted.

Last year a Dutch court ordered oil giant Shell to drastically slash its emissions – a decision that Shell is appealing.

In 2019 the Netherlands’ supreme court upheld a “landmark” ruling that the government would breach citizens’ rights unless it cut emissions, inspiring similar legal action in other countries.

This is the first such case in the world against the aviation industry, according to the Sabin Center’s Global Climate Change Litigation database.

KLM ‘throwing sand in our eyes’

The KLM case has two strands. Client Earth claims the airline’s Fly Responsibly campaign, which presents the airline as “creating a more sustainable future” and on track to reduce its emissions to net zero by 2050, is misleading.

The lawyers say KLM’s plan to grow its flights is at odds with studies that warn the sector cannot align with net zero without limiting the overall number of flights.

The industry asserts it can increase passengers without increasing emissions, thanks to new technologies like sustainable fuels.

They are also targeting KLM’s programme that encourages customers to buy carbon offsets – labelled ‘CO2ZERO’ – in order to “reduce your impact”. Offsetting projects include reforestation projects or KLM’s purchase of biofuels.

They argue the world cannot rely on offsetting and continue polluting, as offsets will not be infinitely abundant.

“Flight emissions cannot be ‘compensated’ if customers just pay extra to plant trees or give money towards the cost of false solutions like what the industry calls “sustainable aviation fuels”. With these messages KLM continues to throw sand in our eyes,” Arts added.

In April, the Dutch Advertising Code Committee (RCC) ruled that KLM was misleading its customers by giving them the impression that they can “neutralise” their flights through it offsetting schemes.

Watch the Daily Climate Show at 3.30pm Monday to Friday on Sky News, the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.

The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.

Related posts:

Spectacular show as Italian volcano Mount Etna erupts ‘What we have missed’: Photos capture global hopes for life in post-COVID future Nine people killed by landslide as India battles heavy monsoon rains Former Manchester United star Patrice Evra reveals he was sexually abused as a teen Award-winning Swedish rapper shot dead in suspected gang attack ‘No time to lose’: Global-warming greenhouse gas levels in atmosphere hit record high Children among at least 45 dead in Bulgaria bus fire Brazil foreign minister ‘surprised’ by Amazon deforestation spike Man convicted of British student Meredith Kercher’s murder is freed early from jail Four dead and one missing after avalanche in Austrian Alps Vladimir Putin turns to China and Xi Jinping amid rising tensions with western leaders over Ukraine Fortitude and flowers: Through heart-breaking scenes of war, remarkable kindness is shown