Alongside the Paris Air ShowAs part of the week-long celebration of the airline industry and its efforts to reduce carbon emissions, a number of groups are speaking out against the discourse and the commercial measures adopted. UFC-Que Choisir, CLCV and 20 other member associations of the European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC), even lodged a complaint with the European Commission. 17 airlines, including Air France and KLM are accused of greenwashing and misleading consumers.
These carriers are accused of "a host of misleading claims"which would suggest that "air transport can be sustainable, eco-responsible and green" . The President of UFC-Que Choisir, Marie-Amandine Stévenin, denounced the situation: " At a time when it is clear that air transport is making a significant and growing contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, it is unacceptable that airlines can claim to be working for the climate. ".
In addition to the misleading rhetoric, airlines have been singled out for the contributions offered to passengers, either for "Offsetting CO2 emissions their flight, or to contribute to development of sustainable fuels (SAF). The associations believe that SAF "are not ready to be marketed"and reminds us thatrecently adopted European legislation sets very low targets as to the proportion they should represent in the aircraft fuel mix. This means that until they become massively available - in the late 2030s - at best, they will represent only a minor part of aircraft fuel tanks".
For CLCV President Jean Yves Mano, " bad green claims are now invading the commercial world, and the airline sector is a textbook case. In the interests of consumer protection, these claims must stop, and public authorities must take firm action. ".
The Franco-Dutch group is particularly singled out by UFC-Que Choisir, with figures to back it up. "Air France - KLM has resorted to this practice, offering consumers expensive options to supposedly cover their own carbon impact on future flights with an unknown time horizon. On a flight from Paris to Copenhagen, a consumer will have to pay a hefty 138 euros, in addition to his ticket, to contribute to this alleged future CO2 reduction.".
However, Air France KLM claims to be a pioneer in the field of sustainable fuel, and intends to go beyond regulatory constraints. In fact, the Group claims to have purchased 17% in global SAF production last yearIt will account for only 3% of global paraffin consumption in 2022.
Airlines are regularly accused of greenwashing. Etihad was one of them last April. The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned the broadcasting of videos advertising the Etihad Airways carrier. The videos were deemed "misleading" and "exaggerated" in their promotion of Etihad's work for sustainable aviation.
The associations involved in this initiative are calling for the launch of a European investigation, a ban on statements associating air travel with environmentally-friendly practices, and the reimbursement of additional options taken out by travellers to limit their environmental impact. However, these options are still in their infancy, as Vincent Etchebehere, Director of Sustainable Development and New Mobilities at Air France, recently testified. Speaking at a event organised by the Pegasus ChairOn the subject of voluntary contributions, he explained: " a small minority of our customers use this option, probably also because it's not visible enough, not understood enough: there are efforts [to be made] in terms of teaching on SAF. For our customers to buy FAS voluntarily, they need to understand what it is. We still have a lot of work to do ". Vincent Etchebehere also added: " there is also thevoluntary purchase from our corporate clients. These customers are increasingly aware of and interested in buying SAF from us via a specific BtoB offer. This enables them to reduce their Scope 3 emissions, i.e. indirect emissions in which emissions linked to business travel are taken into account. This remains an emerging offer. It's up to us to make our corporate customers more aware of what SAF is and how it can be integrated into their carbon accounting. ". Navigating between education and greenwashing: another major challenge in the decarbonisation dossier.
The companies targeted by BEUC's complaint:
- Air Baltic
- Air Dolomiti
- Air France
- Austrian
- Brussels Airlines
- Eurowings
- Finnair
- KLM
- Lufthansa
- Norwegian
- Ryanair
- SAS
- SWISS
- TAP
- Volotea
- Vueling
- Wizz Air
