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Ryanair has made three adjustments to the carbon offset option when selling airline tickets online.

Airline Ryanair communicates more clearly about the CO2 compensation it offers when booking an airline ticket. Ryanair has made three adjustments after the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) indicated that there may be misleading sustainability claims about CO2 compensation on Ryanair's website. Ryanair has implemented the adjustments throughout Europe. ACM has informed the other European consumer regulators about this.

“Companies must be honest and clear about the sustainability claims they make. Flying remains – even with CO2 compensation – a highly polluting mode of transport. Offering CO2 compensation is allowed, but it should not give the impression that flying is sustainable as a result. We think it is important that Ryanair has adapted the website and made it clear what CO2 compensation means.”

Claims about carbon offsets must be correct, clear and complete. It must be clear to consumers how CO2 is offset, how much is offset, how this is calculated and whether it has been independently certified. ACM oversees this. ACM has investigated 'CO2 compensation claims' in the aviation sector. It showed, among other things, that Ryanair stated, for example, 'fly greener to […]'. That could give the impression that flying could also be 'greener' with Ryanair. ACM has addressed Ryanair about these potentially misleading sustainability claims. Ryanair then cooperated and amended the claims on its website to avoid any possible misrepresentation.

modifications

Ryanair has made three adjustments to the carbon offset option when selling airline tickets online:

  • Clear statement that CO2 compensation does not make flying more sustainable. Texts such as 'fly greener to […]' have been adapted to factual texts such as 'compensate your estimated CO2 emissions'. Icons such as green leaves have also been removed.
  • Display of the calculation and the amount of CO2 that is compensated.
  • More clarity about the projects to which the CO2 compensation is spent and attention to the independent certification of the relevant projects.
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ACM and sustainability

ACM makes markets work for people and companies, now and in the future. Sustainable products and sustainable consumption are essential for a future-proof society. ACM contributes to this by monitoring companies' sustainability claims. Consumers must be able to make a more sustainable choice with confidence. Turned out earlier research from ACM that consumers do not understand the CO2 claims. Consumers find claims about CO2 compensation unclear. ACM has also addressed companies in the clothing and energy sector about their sustainability claims.

Not only consumers need to be protected against misleading claims. Companies committed to sustainability must be protected from companies that compete unfairly by using misleading claims. That is why ACM has adopted the Sustainability Claims Guide made.

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