Swiss commission deems climate neutrality to be false advertising

Keystone / Monirul Alam

The Swiss Fair Trading Commission considers advertising that refers to climate neutrality to be unfair. As long as there are no methods for actually measuring this promise, it cannot be used for advertising purposes.

Slogans such as “CO2 neutral”, “climate neutral” or “climate positive” are therefore misleading, the Swiss Fair Trading Commission (Stiftung für Konsumentenschutz or SKS), said on Tuesday. If companies fail to adapt their advertising, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) must take action against them, concludes the foundation.

In two decisions concerning the cases of a heating oil company and a baby food manufacturer, the Commission found that advertising about climate neutrality was unfair. As long as there are no definitive and generally accepted methods for measuring sustainability or for guaranteeing implementation, such green marketing messages mislead consumers.

According to the Commission’s recommendation, the heating oil company should no longer claim that its product is climate neutral before presenting full proof. On the production side, it should calculate the effects on the climate and prove without fail that they are fully offset – and this according to a widely accepted method.

The baby food manufacturer used the slogan “our little pots are climate positive”. The company claimed that its environmental protection projects overcompensated for its own CO2 emissions. In the absence of concrete data and evidence, the Commission is also recommending that the company refrain from making this claim.

In addition to the complaints lodged with the Commission, the consumer protection organisation has also lodged complaints with Seco against unfair climate advertising. These are still pending.
 

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