Advertising with climate neutrality is unfair according to the commission
Published: Tuesday, Oct 31st 2023, 11:01
Updated At: Wednesday, Nov 1st 2023, 00:55
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The Swiss Fairness Commission describes advertising with climate neutrality as unfair. As long as there are no methods for measuring the promise, climate neutrality cannot be used for advertising purposes.
Slogans such as "CO2-neutral", "climate-neutral" or "climate-positive" are therefore misleading despite the label, Consumer Protection announced on Tuesday. If companies do not adapt their advertising, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) will have to take action against them, the foundation concludes, based on a verdict of the Fairness Commission (SLK).
In two decisions on the cases of a heating oil company and a baby food producer, the SLK states that advertising with climate neutrality is unfair. As long as there are no definitive, generally accepted methods for measuring sustainability or ensuring implementation, such so-called green marketing messages would mislead consumers.
According to the recommendation of the SLK, the heating oil company should no longer claim that its heating oil is climate-neutral before it submits complete proof. This would have to include a calculation of the production-side climate impact and complete proof of its compensation - using a generally accepted method.
The manufacturer of infant formula advertised with the slogan "our jars are climate positive." The company claimed that its environmental protection projects overcompensate for its own CO2 emissions. In the absence of concrete information and evidence, the SLK recommends that this company also refrain from making this claim.
At the same time as the complaints to the SLK, Consumer Protection had also filed complaints against unfair climate advertising with Seco. These are still pending.
The foundation describes the lack of legal requirements for environment-related advertising as a fundamental problem. As long as the requirements are unclear, advertising with "green" statements must be considered unfair. The advertising messages would have no verifiable truth content.
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