The federal district court for the Central District of California ruled that plaintiffs in a putative greenwashing class action against Etsy, Inc. lacked standing for their false advertising claims, which were based on allegations that Etsy made false representations regarding its offsetting of carbon emissions from its shipping activities. The complaint alleged that “nearly all offsets issued by the voluntary carbon offset market over promise and under deliver on their net carbon impact due to endemic methodological errors and fraudulent accounting on behalf of offset vendors.” The court found that the complaint failed to plausibly allege that the plaintiffs paid a price premium caused by Etsy’s statements about carbon offsetting, noting that the price of the unique handmade products sold on Etsy “may result from a variety of factors that may have nothing to do with whether the platform on which it was sold attempted to offset the carbon from the platform’s shipping activities.” The court therefore dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims of violations of the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, California False Advertising Law, and California Unfair Competition Law without prejudice. The court dismissed the plaintiffs’ negligent misrepresentation claim with prejudice because the plaintiffs did not make an argument concerning the claim or why the economic loss doctrine did not bar the claim in their opposition to the motion to dismiss.

Greenwashing lawsuit alleging that Etsy made false representations regarding its offsetting of carbon emissions from its shipping activities.

Blackburn v. Etsy, Inc.

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

Federal Court Said Plaintiffs Lacked Standing for Case Alleging Etsy Misrepresented Effectiveness of Carbon Offsets for Shipping Emissions

Filed

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

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

Tradable permits are market-based tools that grant permission for specific activities, frequently used to regulate emissions. These permits can be issued within a trading system to manage environmental impacts.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

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

Federal Court Said Plaintiffs Lacked Standing for Case Alleging Etsy Misrepresented Effectiveness of Carbon Offsets for Shipping Emissions

Policy instrument

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance