The Hamburg Regional Court has prohibited the cruise line Tui Cruises from using a certain form of climate-related advertising. The wording in question is “2050 decarbonized cruise operations (net-zero)”, which, according to the Regional Court, was used in an older version of the website. The German Environmental Aid (DUH) filed the lawsuit (case number 315 O 9/24). The ruling is not yet legally binding.

In the court’s view, this climate-related wording is misleading because it is ambiguous, a court spokesman said. “In the district court’s view, the statement can be understood both to mean that CO2 emissions will be completely avoided in cruise operations in 2050 and to mean that a balanced balance will be achieved with the help of compensation measures.”

Court: High standards for advertising with environmental relevance

The court stressed that strict requirements must be met with regard to the accuracy, unambiguity and clarity of statements in the area of ​​environmentally-related advertising. There is an “increased need for information”. Tui Cruises did not meet this need with the package of measures presented under the wording on the website.

“The graphic of our decarbonization roadmap (climate protection roadmap), which was the subject of the proceedings, has been adjusted accordingly for more than half a year,” a spokesperson for Tui Cruises said in response to a request. “Regardless of today’s ruling, we will continue to consistently implement our ‘Sustainability Strategy 2030’ and remain committed to our ambitious climate goals.” The company will examine whether to appeal the ruling.

The Federal Managing Director of the DUH, Jürgen Resch, said that such advertising is inadmissible in many cases. “Today’s ruling against Tui Cruises is a landmark for the review of many advertising statements with which companies advertise that they want to be particularly climate-friendly in a few years, even though they are far from being so now,”