DUH v. dm-drogerie markt GmbH

The Regional Court of Karlsruhe (Landgericht Karlsruhe) upheld an action brought by the German Environmental Action (Deutsche Umwelthilfe, DUH) against the German drugstore chain DM concerning environmental claims made for its private-label products. The court prohibited DM from advertising certain liquid soaps, sunscreen, and shower creams as “climate neutral” (klimaneutral), and from advertising certain dishwashing detergent as “environment neutral” (umweltneutral).

With respect to the “climate neutral” claims, the court found both misleading advertising and, in some instances, misleading omission of material information. Consumers were not adequately informed on the product packaging about which stages of the product life cycle were covered by the claim or which criteria underpinned the certification. Merely naming the certification provider, without providing a specific website reference, was insufficient.

More fundamentally, the court found that the certification methodology underlying the “climate neutral” claim could not substantiate the expectation that product-related emissions had been permanently neutralized. The certification relied, among other things, on payments to forest-protection projects in Peru. The court held that such projects did not guarantee a permanent one-to-one neutralization of the relevant CO₂ emissions, particularly because the carbon stored in protected forests could ultimately be released and atmospheric CO₂ persists far longer than the duration of the projects.

The court also prohibited the use of the “environment neutral” claim. It found that consumers would understand the label as indicating a balanced overall environmental impact. However, the certification methodology considered only five environmental impact categories and excluded eight other recognized categories. The court therefore considered the claim excessive and inaccurate, describing it as “premature marketing.”