Gol, one of the three major airlines in Brazil, is the target of a public civil suit filed by the Institute for Consumer Protection (Idec) before the Court of Justice of São Paulo (TJSP) over alleged “greenwashing” practice involving the Meu Voo Compensa programme. The agency seeks compensation of R$5 million from the company for collective moral damages.
What is greenwashing?
- Greenwashing is a deceptive marketing strategy in which a company promotes itself as a sustainable, environmentally friendly company to improve its reputation, without adopting real environmentally responsible practices.
- This tactic aims to exploit consumers’ environmental awareness, using advertisements or ambiguous information to give the false impression that products or processes are more environmentally friendly than they actually are.
What do you say?
In the lawsuit, Idec claims that Gol sold digital assets (carbon tokens) to passengers without recognized environmental validity. According to the agency, the airline presented the initiative as an effective measure to neutralize emissions.
Idec claims that Gol would have used tokens issued by Moss – even though international certifier Verra has already warned, since 2021, that these digital assets cannot be classified as true carbon credits.
Carbon credits are certificates representing tons of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases that are no longer emitted or removed from the atmosphere. These credits act as a kind of “currency” to offset emissions and encourage sustainable projects, such as reforestation and clean energy. They can be traded between countries or companies that need to meet emissions reduction targets and those that generate credits through climate change mitigation actions.
In 2022, Verra banned the creation of tokens based on deactivated credits, highlighting that these assets have no climate benefit. But despite the warnings, the GOAL program remained active until the beginning of 2025.
According to Idec, Juul promised consumers to “neutralize” aviation emissions without showing any technical proof, traceability documentation or valid certifications. This practice may constitute misleading advertising and greenwashing.
“Consumers thought they were compensating for real emissions, but in reality they were purchasing a digital asset with no proven environmental validity,” said Christian Prentis, legal director at Idec.
“These programs reinforce the idea that the social and environmental crisis is solved individually, in the shopping cart, without having to change anything in the economic model that produces this devastation. By promoting carbon offsetting as a solution to climate change, companies create a false sense of peace of conscience,” notes Julia Catao Dias, coordinator of Idec’s Sustainable Consumption Program.
He adds: “The problem is that these products lack clear, complete and verifiable information: if they say they will ‘solve’ the environmental impact, they must explain transparently how this happens. Without that, what we have is misleading information, which prevents real progress towards deep transformations in the system of production and consumption.”
However, according to the action taken by Idec, the Gol Initiative had violated the right to information, and the company’s advertisements described the compensation as something “as easy as taking a selfie,” without providing details on the calculation methodology and traceability of the credits.
What does Gul say?
In a statement, Gul denied taking any action that violates legal practices for sustainable development.
“GOAL is known as a company that values integrity and transparency in relationships with its customers and partner companies. The company has never encouraged or implemented any action that conflicts with legal sustainable development practices,” the memo said.
According to Gol, “as soon as she learned of the investigations related to Moss, the company responsible for the carbon credits for the Meu Voo Compensa program, Gol suspended the partnership and sales.”
“Gol is diligent regarding its clients and will spare no effort to resolve all the issues presented today in the Idec action in relation to the matter.”