Our formal complaint against airline greenwash.
The UK needs to reduce flying by 36% or we simply won’t reach our climate targets. At Possible we’re helping the UK cut back on flights by getting companies to offer staff more time off work for slower, greener travel and by campaigning for the government to implement policies to reduce air travel. But airline greenwash is slowing down progress to a zero carbon UK.
Airlines are misleading the public about their environmental credentials (also called “greenwashing”), downplaying the harm they’re causing to our climate, and pretending we can meet emissions targets without cutting back on flights. This makes it more difficult for people to make climate-informed travel decisions.
We need to show airlines that their greenwash won’t fly. So we’ve brought in the lawyers.
Today our lawyers have filed formal complaints against both British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic over their claims that they are reducing emissions from flights and the consequent harm to the climate, via increased efficiency, carbon offsets, and the use of alternative fuels. We have used a formal complaint process via the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which can be used against international businesses which make misleading claims about their climate impacts.
British Airways claims to be “driving urgent action towards net zero emissions” and said they have a “clear roadmap to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.” But, our analysis found that BA’s emissions from jet fuel have increased year-on-year between 2016 and 2019.
Similarly, Virgin Atlantic has a “Mission to Net Zero” plan that features prominently on its website and in its 2022 Annual Report, and fails to mention the airline previously falling short of its emissions targets. We believe this is crucial information for consumers to know.
The reality is that technologies for cleaner flight either don’t exist yet, or don’t work. We think that airlines’ misleading claims about their emissions are unfair on people who want to do the right thing when they travel.
People around the world are feeling the dangerous impacts of the climate crisis. But instead of taking real action to cut their emissions by cutting back on flights, airlines are making misleading claims about being able to fly greener.
Our complaint argues that it’s essential for airlines, who “communicate directly with customers and prospective customers about these issues, to be honest and accurate about what they can actually achieve to reduce emissions while continuing to fly,”
It’s time for airlines to start being honest about their sky-high emissions.
Do you agree?
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