DAA told to change emissions ad campaign after greenwashing complaint
Ken Foxe
Dublin Airport has hit back over complaints that it had tried to paint itself as environmentally friendly in a dispute over an advertising campaign about emissions.
The DAA said that a series of adverts were intended to reflect the importance of air travel to and from Ireland, and they were clear that any reference to reduced emissions related to the airports they operated from, and not flights.
A complaint was submitted by MEP Lynn Boylan to the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland late last year, saying the phrase “halving airport emissions” was highly ambiguous.
In response, the DAA said the use of the phrase “airport emissions” provided a “degree of specificity” regarding what they were referring to.
They said both Dublin and Cork Airports had dramatically cut their own carbon footprint by using electric vehicles and by building a solar farm.
The complaint said the advertisement included an element of “puffery” suggesting a small cut in their emissions was going to “lift everyone’s future hopes even higher”.
It said: “In the face of societal collapse, one company reducing a small subsection of its emissions is not cause for higher hopes in the future.”
Records released under Environmental Information Access laws detail how the DAA argued it was not fair to characterise the reductions achieved as “a small subsection of our emissions.”
“The targets are fully aligned with what is required under the National Climate Action Plan,” their response said.
“Achieving these reductions requires a massive level of effort and investment across our operations and in infrastructure, facilities and processes.”
The DAA said it was a fact that, despite the challenges of climate change, people still want to and need to fly.
Their response said: “Demand for air travel remains very high and passengers consistently ask that organisations like ours make progress on improving sustainability.”
The DAA said they could not “simply give up and say that there is no hope” and that every action to cut emissions was important.
The complaint also argued that many people would not be aware that the emissions referred to in the advert did not include the colossal amounts of pollution generated by aircraft.
In their response, the airport authority said: “This ad does not ask the consumer to make any decisions or take any actions based on the information in [it].
“It is designed to impart some positive, high-level facts about the role of Dublin and Cork airports in Ireland, and the fact that we are taking actions to create more sustainable airports.”
The DAA said the language used on emissions was correct and referred only to the ones over which they had “direct control.”
They argued ‘airport emissions’ was the correct term to use and that the ad “does not overstate the airport’s environmental efforts.”
It said the advertising made no claims about the aviation sector, flights, or air travel, nor was it linked to specific airlines.
The Advertising Standards Authority was not convinced by their arguments, however, and said the wording should be revised for future use for a specific radio advert.
Asked about the records, a DAA spokesman said: “The ASAI upheld a complaint relating to one radio advertisement only, which formed part of a much wider campaign across print and broadcast media.
“DAA takes its climate obligations very seriously and we fully respect the decision of the ASAI.
“Our intention was never for the radio advert to mislead or to underplay the impact of the aviation sector, but rather to highlight aspects of the tangible work that DAA is doing to reduce carbon emissions.”
