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Climate demonstration in Stuttgart: companies want to benefit from the trend
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Plastic bags, heating oil, chicken: products that are harmful to the environment and that are supposedly “climate-neutral” are an increasing concern of the competition headquarters.
So far this year, twelve complaints about misleading or non-transparent advertising have been received by the organization, which is supported by business and associations.
Climate neutrality is increasingly becoming »an important advertising argument«, according to the organization.
Proceedings end up in court
In seven cases, the companies failed to issue a cease and desist, so the proceedings ended up in court.
Two of these have so far been decided in the first instance, but are not yet legally binding.
From the point of view of the competition headquarters, competition is distorted when companies that continue to operate conventionally and only buy CO₂ certificates advertise with the term “climate-neutral” without providing detailed information.
Other companies that would also use the term to advertise would have had to go to great lengths to reduce their own CO₂ emissions.
"Therefore, when advertising with› climate-neutral ‹, you have to inform that compensation is taking place and the proportion of your own measures to reduce CO₂ behind it," says Tudor Vlah from the organization.
In one case, a provider advertised “climate-neutral premium heating oil”.
The District Court of Konstanz upheld the competition headquarters' injunction.
The court decided that the company had to provide more detailed information on how climate neutrality was achieved.
Because the topic of the environment is so emotionally charged and at the same time the connections are so complex, but consumers often have little technical knowledge, advertising with the term "climate-neutral" is subject to particularly strict conditions, it was said to justify.
Negative price due to "climate lie"
The consumer protection organization Foodwatch also criticizes the use of the term: Among the nominees for the negative award "Goldener Puff" are several products that advertise it, such as a chicken breast fillet from Rewe.
A “brazen climate lie”, according to Foodwatch.
The chicken breast fillet is neither produced emission-free, nor are the emissions generated during production offset.
The food industry wants to "cash in" with consumers' need for more sustainability.
At the request of the AFP news agency, Rewe said that the criticism was not justified.
The analysis of the consumer protection organization is based on "methodological errors" - Foodwatch accuses the supermarket chain of the same.
jlk / dpa / AFP
