A court in Frankfurt, Germany, has ruled that Apple cannot advertise its Apple Watch as a carbon neutral product. Apple cannot use the expression in Germany.
According to Reuters on the 26th, a court in Frankfurt judged that Apple’s online promotion of its smartwatch as “our first carbon (CO2)-neutral product” was unfounded and violated German competition law.
Apple has not made an official statement on the ruling, and the decision is open to appeal.
Apple has insisted on carbon neutrality based on the fact that it is offsetting carbon emissions through a forest project in Paraguay. This project is to plant eucalyptus trees on leased land.
However, the Frankfurt court noted that land lease contracts equivalent to 75% of the project are not guaranteed beyond 2029, and it is not clear whether the contract will be extended. “There is no guarantee that the forest project can be sustained,” the court said.
The German environmental group ‘DUH’, which filed the lawsuit, hailed the ruling as a victory over ‘greenwashing’. Greenwashing refers to a marketing strategy that pretends to be eco-friendly.
“CO2 storage in commercial eucalyptus plantations is only for years, there are not enough contractual guarantees for the future, nor the ecological soundness of single-crop plantations,” DUH CEO Jurgen Resch said in a statement.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
