Greenwashing, an increasingly visible tactic in a world that values sustainability, involves the dissemination of misleading information about environmental commitments by companies to attract environmentally concerned consumers.

The European Commission and consumer protection authorities recently took action against 20 airlines for greenwashing practices, such as asking consumers to pay an additional fee to fund climate projects with lower environmental impact that can offset CO2 emissions from flights, or using terms such as “sustainable aviation fuels” without clearly justifying their environmental impact.

The measure requires companies to bring their practices into line with EU consumer protection legislation and to provide a response describing proposed measures to avoid such practices within 30 days.