Greenwash or Sustainability?

As the pressure to reduce their carbon footprint grows on airlines, the industry grapples with a complex set of options with no clear visible goal in sight. As things stand, the 2050 zero carbon goal seems pretty elusive.

Mayanna Berrin, a US citizen based in California sued Delta Air Lines last year for its claims that it operates flights on a carbon-neutral basis. In a class action lawsuit concerning advertisements that the airline has run since early 2020, Berrin said in her plea that the ads were "demonstrably false", as technology does not exist at scale to enable commercial passenger flights to operate on a low-emissions basis.

Her case highlighted the example of Delta advertising itself as "the world's first carbon-neutral airline" - a statement made online, in out-of-home advertising and on napkins handed to passengers. The fact is that multiple airlines including Delta have opted to invest heavily in carbon offsetting. But there has been little impact in terms of the carbon foorpri9nt The story began in 2020 when Delta pledged to achieve carbon neutrality and put aside $1bn for emissions reductions and offsetting over a decade. The airline said it would prioritise investments in nature-based projects that conserve and restore habitats. Soon after the ads and the napkins began circulating.

Many of these high-sounding vague nature-based carbon offsets have come under the spotlight of late because more and more companies like Delta are adopting them. The Guardian, in a huge investigative piece in January, was categorical that carbon credit provider Verra was offering many 'worthless' forest credits to corporations. In another case, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK ordered Etihad Airlines to remove two of its social media adverts for "exaggerating" the environmental benefits of its flights. Increasingly this subterfuge is known as 'green-washing'. Delta and Etihad are not the only airlines to face brainwashing accusations recently.