Overview of the ongoing DUH legal proceedings concerning climate neutrality advertising promises.

In 2022, Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) filed legal action against TotalEnergies due to an advertising statement concerning "CO2-compensated heating oil." TotalEnergies claimed to offset the CO2 emissions of the oil as part of its climate plan. DUH argued that this advertising claim constituted misleading commercial practices, and was thus in breach of article 5a of the Act Against Unfair Competition. First, DUH criticized that the measures implemented to achieve the alleged climate neutrality of the advertised oil were insufficiently presented. Second, DUH criticized the offsetting measures to reach CO2 neutrality, namely, the purchase of emission credits for a forest protection project in the Madre de Dios region, Peru (ClimatePartner Tambopata forest protection project). This case is part of a series of DUH legal proceedings concerning climate neutrality advertising promises. 

On April 5, 2023, the Düsseldorf Regional Court fully upheld DUH's lawsuit, ruling that TotalEnergies claims of climate neutrality were misleading. TotalEnergies is no longer allowed to advertise its heating oil as "CO2 compensated."

Deutsche Umwelthilfe v. TotalEnergies Wärme & Kraftstoff Deutschland GmbH

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Deutsche Umwelthilfe v. TotalEnergies Wärme & Kraftstoff Deutschland GmbH - Other

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

Deutsche Umwelthilfe v. TotalEnergies Wärme & Kraftstoff Deutschland GmbH - Other

Economic sector