ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

The NGO Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH)) filed a claim against BP Europa SE in relation to advertising statements concerning “climate neutral” products and services.

These included claims that BP advertised car dealerships that offered customers the opportunity to neutralise their CO₂ emission, as part of servicing or sale of their vehicle, as “carbon neutral”.

DUH alleged that these claims provided insufficient information about why the dealerships were said to be “climate neutral” and what BP was doing to cut down on or compensate its CO₂ emissions. DUH sought relief from the court to prevent BP from advertising its products and services as carbon neutral.

In September 2024, the Hamburg Regional Court held that BP was not allowed to continue to advertise certain products – notably lubricants and engine oil – as “climate neutral” or to use the label “certified carbon neutral product”. BP had justified the climate neutrality of its products by purchasing emission credits from a forest protection project in Zambia, among other things.

At trial, DUH argued against the effectiveness of the forest protection project in offsetting BP’s CO₂ emissions. DUH argued that the duration of the forest protection project that BP used to offset CO₂ emissions was only 30 years, while fossil carbon can remain in the atmosphere for thousands of years. The calculation of the CO₂ emissions offset was also questioned. The court did not have to rule on this question because the advertising itself was held not to contain sufficient information.

The court confirmed that BP’s advertising for climate neutral products was misleading, and consumers were not adequately informed as to how the alleged climate neutrality was achieved.

(Case number: 312 O 114/22).