Background
This Ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on carbon offsetting claims in the air travel sector. This ad was identified for investigation following intelligence gathering by our Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search for online ads that might break the rules.Ad description
This Ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on carbon offsetting claims in the air travel sector. This ad was identified for investigation following intelligence gathering by our Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search for online ads that might break the rules.
Issue
The ASA challenged whether the claims “bulk offset the carbon emissions for your past and future flights” in ad (a) and “Travel consciously by offsetting your flight’s carbon footprint” in ad (b) gave a misleading impression about the environmental impact of travelling with the advertised airline.
Response
Qatar Airways Group QCSC t/a Qatar Airways said that the ads promoted a voluntary carbon offsetting programme for corporate customers as part of its Beyond Business rewards scheme. They said the ads had been targeted at corporate LinkedIn users and subscribing business customers, not individual leisure passengers, and that the intended audience had a higher level of knowledge about carbon offsetting and sustainability reporting. They provided evidence showing the targeting parameters used on the platform – “business travellers” and “company size of 200+ employees” and certain senior jobs (chief experience officer, director, senior, manager, partner, vice president). The ads referred specifically to carbon emissions from flights, and the phrases “travel consciously” and “supporting your sustainability goals” would have been understood as referring to offsetting as a supporting measure rather than a complete solution to the environmental impact of flying.Qatar Airways said their offsetting scheme had been developed with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), an international airline trade body. The scheme followed IATA’s voluntary carbon offsetting guidelines, and was independently audited each year through a Quality Assurance Standards process carried out by an independent professional services firm. It said the scheme used verified carbon units bought through the IATA Aviation Carbon Exchange (ACE), that the units contributed to three Verra-certified renewable energy projects in Asia and Africa, and that those units were then retired and recorded on the Verra registry. They provided both Verra Retirement Certificates and evidence showing the retired units on Verra’s registry. Verra administered the Verified Carbon Standard, a carbon accounting standard.
Qatar Airways said emissions were calculated on a per-flight and per-leg basis using IATA passenger and cargo carbon dioxide (CO2) methodologies, which they provided, together with Qatar Airways’ own verified operational data, and that the scheme was separate from mandatory regimes such as UK and EU Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS), and the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). They said all amounts paid by corporate customers were redirected to project developers through the IATA ACE platform.
Qatar Airways said, and provided evidence showing, the ads signposted users to further information through hyperlinks to the Beyond Business portal, its carbon emissions page and FAQ pages, which provided more detail on carbon offsetting, emissions calculations and the IATA’s role. The linked page stated “For more information about the calculation and CO2 methodology, please visit the FAQ”.
Qatar Airways said they had suspended the ads after contact from the ASA.
Assessment
Upheld
The ads appeared on LinkedIn, which was accessible to both consumers and business readers. While some parameters had been used to target business readers, including using some travel-related criteria, consumers had not been excluded from viewing the ads. The ads therefore could have been seen by both groups.
Ad (a) stated that readers could “bulk offset the carbon emissions” for their past and future flights to support their sustainability goals, and ad (b) stated that they could “travel consciously” by offsetting their flight’s “carbon footprint” through Qatar Airways’ Beyond Business portal.
The ASA considered that all readers were likely to understand from the ads that they could travel in a way that had a lower environmental impact because Qatar Airways offered a scheme that would offset the carbon emissions from flights taken with the airline. They would understand from the unqualified claims “bulk offset the carbon emissions for your past and future flights” in ad (a) and “offsetting your flight’s carbon footprint” in ad (b) that the carbon emissions from a specific flight, or flights, could be fully offset.
While ad (b) referred to Qatar Airways’ Beyond Business scheme, which indicated it was aimed at business readers, we considered consumers who saw both ads would take a positive impression of Qatar Airways in relation to the environmental impact of flights taken with the airline. Specifically, that it was possible to fully offset the carbon emissions from a specific flight, or flights, with the airline.
Travellers could pay towards a carbon offsetting programme during the checkout process when purchasing flights through Qatar Airways’ website. The relevant page set out the CO2 emissions for the specific flight, and the amount payable to contribute to a carbon offsetting programme. We further understood that business readers could use Qatar Airways’ Beyond Business portal to enquire about paying to offset CO2 emissions for past and future flights.
We acknowledged the evidence provided by Qatar Airways in respect of its offsetting programme, including the calculation methodology and evidence that verified carbon credits had been retired, meaning they had been used and could not be claimed again. However, while the evidence demonstrated the existence and operation of an offsetting programme, it did not show the carbon emissions from specific past or future flights booked with Qatar Airways would be fully offset through the scheme or that the environmental impact of the flights was reduced.
For that reason, we concluded the ads were likely to mislead about the environmental impact of travelling with Qatar Airways. We welcomed Qatar Airways’ assurance the ads had been withdrawn.
The ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), 11.1, and 11.3 (Environmental claims).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the form investigated. We told Qatar Airways Group QCSC t/a Qatar Airways to ensure future ads did not give a misleading impression of the impact caused by travelling with them, and that they did not state or imply businesses or consumers could pay to fully offset the carbon emissions of a specific flight, or bulk offset emissions from specific flights, unless they held suitably robust substantiation in support.
