Law students’ complaint upheld – Shell advertisements with claim ‘CO2 neutral’ are misleading

Shell advertisements with the claim “CO2 neutral” are misleading, the Dutch Advertising Code Committee (Reclame Code Commissie) ruled today in two cases against the oil giant. The Advertising Code Committee agrees with the students’ argument that Shell’s compensation measures will never even out the environmental damage of CO2. The damage of CO2 to the climate is certain, while the oil and gas multinational can never guarantee how much and how long forest conservation and planted trees retain CO2 from the air.