Opportunity Green files complaints against cruise companies for ‘LNG greenwashing’

NGO Opportunity Green on Tuesday (26 September) filed a series of complaints to the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) against international cruise companies to try to put an end to “apparent LNG greenwashing”, which it said is potentially misleading consumers.

Alongside the complaints, Opportunity Green has also published a report, (Un)Sustainable from Ship to Shore, highlighting the systemic nature of the cruise industry’s apparently misleading advertising, including claims being made by international cruise companies.

The NGO said cruises are an increasingly popular choice of holiday in the UK. In 2022, British and Irish passengers took 1.7 million cruises according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), and almost 20.4 million people took a cruise worldwide. 

“CLIA data also showed that 76% of British cruise passengers who sailed in the past 12 months said they were ‘much more’ or ‘more’ aware of environmental and sustainable tourism. And yet, as this report highlights, many of the sustainability messages aimed at consumers could be misleading them,” it said. 

The report identifies three key communication strategies being used by several companies that risk breaching advertising rules in the UK. These are:

• Advertising the use of fossil LNG as reducing emissions 
• Advertising fossil LNG as environmentally friendly
• Advertising the use of fossil LNG as specific initiative of reaching net zero by 2050

Isabela Keuschnigg, Legal Officer at Opportunity Green, said: “Despite what the cruise companies investing heavily in the fuel would like to suggest, fossil LNG is and will remain a polluting fossil fuel. It is not an alternative fuel solution that is consistent with the 1.5°C temperature goal as enshrined in the Paris Agreement.” 

“Cruise companies might be quick to point out carbon emissions savings or air pollution benefits linked to the use of fossil LNG in cruise ships. But they keep quiet about the fuel’s methane emissions, even though research has shown that these can cancel out the supposed climate benefits. Not only does the production of fossil LNG result in significant methane emissions across the supply chain before it reaches the ships as a fuel, but burning it on the ships themselves releases unburned methane into the atmosphere, which is devastating for the climate.”

Carly Hicks, Legal Director at Opportunity Green, said: “We were astounded at the extent to which cruise companies are advertising fossil LNG as a climate solution, when the science suggests that this is pure greenwash. ‘Sustainability’ sells, but the climate emergency will not be solved by meaningless marketing that does nothing other than help ensure the sustainability of a cruise company’s balance sheet.” 

“Consumers – and our climate – deserve better. We are particularly concerned about the systemic nature of the advertising of fossil LNG as a climate-positive fuel by many cruise companies, which is why we are holding these companies to account and filing a series of complaints about their advertisements to the ASA. This tidal wave of greenwash risks giving consumers the impression that taking a cruise can be sustainable, when studies have shown that it can produce more pollution than flying – and fossil LNG is unlikely to change that.”

Note: The full report titled ‘(Un)Sustainable from Ship to Shore’ can be accessed here. 

Photo credit: Opportunity Green
Published: 27 September, 2023