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German court rules against TotalEnergies in consumer greenwashing claim

Date:
28 October 2021

Relevant legislation/regulation:
Act against Unfair Competition

Jurisdiction:
Germany

Status:
Ongoing

Regulator/enforcement authority:
Civil case – NGO

ESG Category:
Environmental

Defendant(s)/subjects(s):
TotalEnergies Wärme & Kraftstoff Deutschland GmbH

Key Facts:

In May 2022, the NGO Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH)) filed a greenwashing claim in the Düsseldorf Regional Court against the energy company TotalEnergies.

Adverts produced by TotalEnergies had claimed that its Thermoplus heating oil product was climate neutral because the company offset the CO₂ emissions of the oil as part of its climate plan. The DUH argued that this was misleading and breached consumer protection law, including because there was no real evidence to show that offsetting projects being invested in had the effect of reducing TotalEnergies’ CO₂ emissions.

The Düsseldorf Regional Court handed down judgment in April 2023, finding in favour of DUH. It ruled that TotalEnergies must stop advertising its product as “CO₂ compensated” and must list the exact project from which it buys carbon offsets.

Sources:

DUH press release