Claims by a car company in Australia to be both green and carbon neutral have been declared misleading by the Federal Court.
Between July 27 and September 1, General Motors Holden, which trades in the country as Saab Australia, published newspaper and magazine advertisements promoting its entire range of Saab motor vehicles as green-friendly.
According to the advertisements, “every Saab is green with carbon emissions neutral across the entire Saab range”. The advertisements also told customers to “shift to neutral”.
The advertisements also claimed that GM Holden would plant 17 native trees in the first year of the vehicle’s purchase to offset the carbon dioxide emissions for the life of the car. However, this was found to be misleading as emissions would not be neutral over the car’s lifetime and 17 trees would only offset its operation for around one year.
Clearly there are a growing number of customers who want to buy greener vehicles and it is important they are given accurate and relevant information about environmental performance. Kate Norris, senior policy officer for CHOICE, stated that green marketers should heed the court’s decision and make sure any claims they make can be independently verified.
