The Dutch Advertising Code Committee (ACC) issued an important
ruling on 26 August 2021. In the ruling, the ACC sets very high
standards for the substantiation of CO2 neutralization claims.
Shell advertised with (amongst others) the following texts:
"Make a difference. Drive CO2
neutral", "Now it's even easier to
drive CO2 neutral. With compensationON you now automatically drive
CO2 neutral" and "When you sign up
for compensationON you automatically pay 1 cent extra per liter of
fuel with Shell, with which you can compensate the CO2 emissions of
the kilometers you drive. Shell then compensates the CO2 emissions
from the extraction of the oil to the petrol station.
(…)”.
After a complaint about this campaign, the ACC found that these
CO2 neutralization claims of Shell are contrary to the
Environmental Advertising Code (MRC). According to the ACC, the
wording "CO2 neutral" used in the Shell campaign is
interpreted by the average consumer as meaning that the
