Greenwashing is dangerous.

Companies are facing increasing pressure from consumers, governments and investors to make commitments around sustainability and climate change. Greenwashing is a way for companies to appear socially responsible while continuing to operate as they wish.

A rising tide of greenwashing is distracting the public from the harm these companies are causing and damaging open public debate about climate change.

So we’re taking action. We’re using the law to stop companies misleading consumers and investors over their climate credentials.

 

 

What is greenwashing?

While greenwashing isn’t new, there’s been a huge uptick in interest among consumers recently around environmentally and socially conscious products, and consumers are much more concerned about making environmentally friendly purchasing decisions. So, companies have a real financial incentive to appear sustainable and socially conscious.

Greenwashing is where a company uses advertising and public messaging to appear more climate friendly and environmentally sustainable than it really is. It’s also a technique used by certain companies to distract consumers from the fact that their business model and activities actually do a lot of environmental harm and damage.

It can be seen in advertising, sponsorship and public messaging in the media and on social media.

 

66%

of consumers are happy to pay more for environmentally friendly products, according to a 2015 survey.

72%

of consumers under the age of 20 are happy to pay more for environmentally friendly products, according to the same survey.

What we've achieved

April 2023

KLM tells the District Court of Amsterdam that it will scrap its advertising campaign telling customers to ‘Fly Responsibly’ during a hearing focused on Fossielvrij’s admissibility to bring the claim - the world's first aviation greenwashing lawsuit.

May 2023

A judge rules the landmark greenwashing legal action against French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies is allowed to proceed, marking a major step forward in protecting consumers from misleading marketing claims over sustainability.

January 2023

KLM files its first round of arguments on whether Fossielvrij should be allowed to bring the lawsuit. KLM argues that the airline needs to keep its ‘licence to grow’. It also claims that Fossielvrij – as a climate campaigning organisation – has no place bringing a legal challenge against misleading advertising.

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Climate protest with sign reading: people over profit

Greenwashing: the tipping point

We asked science journalist, author and presenter on BBC Radio 4's Costing the Earth, Jheni Osman, to explore the issue of corporate greenwashing – why it happens, to what extent, and how companies are being forced to make big decisions about the future of 'green' marketing.

Latest work

Plastics

Europe

Greenwashing

6 May 2025

We’re supporting legal action against Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Danone for their misleading claims about recycling

Climate

Rule of law

Greenwashing

4 November 2024

Laura Clarke speech on Serviced Emissions report from Race to Zero and Oxford Net Zero

Pollution

Plastics

Greenwashing

UK

1 October 2024

Are recycling logos and claims actually useful?

Climate

Greenwashing

Climate accountability

Fossil fuels

1 May 2024

We’re joining legal action against Total for greenwashing