A carbon credit campaign run by British-Dutch multinational Shell has been denounced as greenwashing by Dutch watchdog the Advertising Code Committee. The campaign, which shows fuel purchases as carbon neutral provided customers buy offsets, was initially protested by a group of law students who said the firm did not adequately demonstrate it was offsetting emissions.
Shell has been given two weeks to appeal the decision, with the Committee calling for evidence of full emission offsetting.
The oil and gas major currently allows customers to pay extra for fuel, with the additional money reportedly being used for green initiatives such as planting trees in a campaign they call ‘Drive CO2 Neutral’. The scheme was called into question by a group of law students from the Free University in Amsterdam, who issued a statement accusing Shell of greenwashing, as the campaign implies customers would need to pay only 1 extra euro cent ($0.012) per liter of petrol to achieve carbon neutral driving.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Shell said:
“Shell takes its responsibilities as an advertiser extremely seriously. Shell’s ‘Drive CO2 Neutral’ program is a genuine and important initiative to give consumers the option to offset CO2-emissions associated with the fuel they purchase.”
The same spokesperson added that the company would ‘study the ruling in detail and consider any necessary changes to communications’..
The challenge comes amidst Shell’s newfound green push, with the group announcing it would rapidly expand EV infrastructure in the UK, financing 25% of councils’ rollout schemes. Despite these moves to aid the transition to a cleaner economy, the major is no stranger to complaints. A ruling issued in May this year calls for stronger carbon cutting targets from the group, calling for a reduction of 45% over the next ten years, and which the group said they are intending to appeal.
Reference:
https://www.jwnenergy.com/article/2021/8/30/dutch-ad-watchdog-tells-shell-to-pull-carbon-neutr/
