ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

The Brazilian Institute for Consumer Protection (Idec) has filed a public civil lawsuit in São Paulo state court against Gol Linhas Aéreas, alleging greenwashing in connection with the airline’s “Meu Voo Compensa” carbon offset program. Idec is seeking R$5 million in collective moral damages.

According to the claim, Gol sold digital carbon tokens to passengers on the basis that they would neutralise flight emissions, despite the tokens lacking recognised environmental certification. The lawsuit states that the tokens were issued by Moss, a Brazilian carbon credit platform, and continued to be marketed after global certifier Verra warned in 2021 that such assets could not be classified as real carbon credits. Idec alleges that Gol failed to provide technical documentation or traceability and promoted the program using marketing slogans suggesting offsetting emissions was “as easy as taking a selfie.”

Idec’s legal manager stated that consumers believed they were offsetting real emissions but were instead purchasing a digital asset with no proven environmental value.

Gol has denied any wrongdoing, stating that it acted with integrity and transparency and that it suspended its partnership with Moss after learning of investigations into the carbon credit provider. The company said it will address the issues raised in the Idec lawsuit.