Netherlands’ Advertising Code Committee (Stichting Reclame Code) has accepted last week the complaint filed by nine law students from the Free University in Amsterdam who claimed Shell’s campaign Drive CO2 Neutral is greenwashing, Euractive reports.
Drive CO2 Neutral campaign is promoting petrol and diesel purchases as ‘carbon neutral’ providing that customers purchase offsets which means paying extra fee that will fund carbon offsetting, but the Dutch students took Shell to court claiming it could not prove the carbon offsets bought were equal to those emitted.
The Dutch advertising watchdog has ordered Royal Dutch Shell- that uses carbon credits supporting nature-based projects including tree planting- to stop running the campaign and gave the company two weeks to appeal the decision.
They pointed that the advertisement implies the offsetting will be equivalent to the emissions generated by burning the fuel in their customers’ vehicles, but that this would be unlikely given the one euro cent per litre of fuel cost of the service.
The Committee’s ruling stated that Shell didn’t provide evidence showing it is offsetting the emissions in full, noting at the same time that the company has used third-party research to support its offsetting approach.
Commenting the Advertising Code Committee’s ruling that is not legally binding, Shell spokesperson emphasized that the company will consider any necessary changes to communications, underlying it takes its responsibilities as an advertiser extremely seriously.
Shell has confirmed plans to appeal Hague District Court’s ruling issued in late May, ordering the company to set stronger targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the complaint filed by activist groups. That ruling notes that Shell’s current ambition to reduce the carbon intensity of products by 20% by 2030 is not aligned with the UK or EU’s net-zero goal for 2050.
Drive CO2 Neutral campaign is promoting petrol and diesel purchases as ‘carbon neutral’ providing that customers purchase offsets which means paying extra fee that will fund carbon offsetting, but the Dutch students took Shell to court claiming it could not confirm the carbon offsets bought were equal to those emitted.
The Dutch advertising watchdog has ordered Royal Dutch Shell- that uses carbon credits supporting nature-based projects including tree planting- to stop running the campaign and gave the company two weeks to appeal the decision.
They pointed that the advertisement implies the offsetting will be equivalent to the emissions generated by burning the fuel in their customers’ vehicles, but that this would be unlikely given the one euro cent per litre of fuel cost of the service.
The Committee’s ruling stated that Shell didn’t provide evidence showing it is offsetting the emissions in full, noting at the same time that the company has used third-party research to support its offsetting approach.
Commenting the Advertising Code Committee’s ruling that is not legally binding, Shell spokesperson emphasized that the company will consider any necessary changes to communications, underlying it takes its responsibilities as an advertiser extremely seriously.
Shell has confirmed plans to appeal Hague District Court’s ruling issued in late May, ordering the company to set stronger targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the complaint filed by activist groups including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace
That ruling notes that Shell’s current ambition to reduce the carbon intensity of products by 20% by 2030 is not aligned with the UK or EU’s net-zero goal for 2050.
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