ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

Z Energy has settled out of court with three complainants following claims its April 2022 “we’re in the business of getting out of the petrol business” marketing campaign misled consumers through greenwashing.

Before initiating court action against Z Energy, an Australian owned New Zealand based fuel provider, the activist group Lawyers for Climate Action had made a complaint to the New Zealand Commerce Commission, which declined to take any action. As a result, Lawyers for Climate Action was joined by Consumer NZ and the Environmental Law Initiative to file their initiating motion in 2023.

Z Energy maintains it did not intend to mislead consumers or convey that it was stopping selling petrol, stating instead “the statement was and accompanying campaign was intended to be aspirational and provocative in the context of Z’s low carbon transition strategy.” The campaign referred to a biofuels’ plant that Z Energy was building, which was not operational at the time and was permanently shut down just three months later. The campaign also stated Z Energy was well on track to achieving its carbon reduction targets. The company now acknowledges this statement was only in relation to the firm’s operational emissions target, not the emissions from fuel sold to its consumers.

Z Energy have acknowledged that the campaign may have caused confusion but deny any liability and continue to emphasise that the claim ‘we’re in the business of getting out of the petrol business’ was made in the context of a lot of other information, strategic commitments, and investment in environmental sustainability.

Z Energy has now joined forces with the three complainants to call on the New Zealand Government to do more to ensure the country’s emissions targets are achieved. The settlement stating in part, “The parties call for bipartisan policies and strategies to ensure that New Zealand’s emissions reductions targets will be achieved,” and “Z emphasises the need for government to create supportive policy frameworks and regulations that encourage the adoption of alternative energy solutions, particularly electric vehicles.”