'Greenwashing' lawsuit against KLM to proceed, Dutch court rules

By Toby Sterling and Joanna Plucinska

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -A Dutch court on Wednesday allowed to proceed to the next phase a civil suit brought by environmental groups against KLM for commercials that allegedly misled consumers about the airline's environmental credentials.

Judges found that the lawsuit brought by Fossil Free Netherlands is admissible. KLM, the Dutch subsidiary of Air France, has denied so-called "greenwashing" allegations and argued in April the group did not represent most KLM customers and did not have the right to bring a suit.

But judges found the group does have standing. "Because this is a general interest case, it is not necessary to establish which narrowly defined group of people Fossil Free represents," the decision said.

"Today's decision shows that climate organizations do have a place in fighting 'greenwashing'," Fossil Free organizer Hiske Arts said.

"As long as the biggest polluters continue to lull us to sleep through their slick marketing campaigns, climate action will not happen."

KLM, which says it has discontinued the "Fly Responsibly" campaign that was the initial target of the Fossil Free suit, said it looks forward to arguing its case in full.

"KLM is ambitious in its climate approach and wants to involve its customers in the subject" it said in a response.

"We are always learning .. and continue looking at our communications to determine what can be better and more transparent."

Fossil Free is seeking the company to halt such advertising, apologize to customers and print a rectification in prominent Dutch newspapers.

Environmental groups supporting the case, including Client Earth, say it is one of a wave of lawsuits against advertising in the airline industry, inspired by a landmark 2021 ruling ordering oil giant Shell to cut its emissions.

Environmental groups challenging the "Fly Responsibly" concept argue that there is no environmentally friendly way to fly for now.

Measures such as planting trees to compensate for emissions or mixing small amounts of non-fossil-based fuel into airplane kerosene are not sufficient and airlines can only meaningfully reduce pollution by flying less.

The European Commission has been seeking to develop a "Green Claims" directive, following a 2020 study that found most claims were "vague, misleading or unfounded".

But a commission spokesperson has said the proposal was still in the early phase of European Union lawmaking process.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Toby Chopra and Sriraj Kalluvila)