Opportunity Green issues complaints to ASA over cruise industry’s systemic misleading advertising of fossil LNG as a ‘green’ fuel

Press Release

Cruise companies must stop trying to gaslight the public into believing that fossil LNG is a climate solution when the evidence suggests it is not.

(London: 26 September, 2023) Cruise companies across the United States and Europe are increasingly investing in liquefied natural gas (fossil LNG)-ready ships and advertising this as ‘climate action’ to consumers and investors, when research suggests this is far from the truth.

NGO Opportunity Green has today filed a series of complaints to the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) against some of the biggest international cruise companies to try to put an end to this apparent LNG greenwashing, which is potentially misleading consumers.

Alongside the complaints, Opportunity Green has also published a report, (Un)Sustainable from Ship to Shore, highlighting the systemic nature of the cruise industry’s apparently misleading advertising, including claims being made by some of the biggest international cruise companies such as Carnival, MSC Cruises, Princess Cruises, and Costa Cruises.

Cruises are an increasingly popular choice of holiday in the UK. In 2022, British and Irish passengers took 1.7 million cruises according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), and almost 20.4 million people took a cruise worldwide. CLIA data also shows that 76% of British cruise passengers who sailed in the past 12 months said they were ‘much more’ or ‘more’ aware of environmental and sustainable tourism. And yet, as this report highlights, many of the sustainability messages aimed at consumers could be misleading them.

The report identifies three key communication strategies being used by several companies that risk breaching advertising rules in the UK. These are:

  1. Advertising the use of fossil LNG as reducing emissions

  2. Advertising fossil LNG as environmentally friendly

  3. Advertising the use of fossil LNG as specific initiative of reaching net zero by 2050

Examples of these claims include:

“As our first LNG-propelled new cruise ship, MSC World Europa is a huge step forward [in the mission to set a sustainable standard for the cruise industry]. This next-generation power hugely reduces emissions and marks a milestone on our journey to zero emissions operations.”  (MSC Cruises website)

“#SunPrincess and #StarPrincess, our newest ships, are powered by liquified natural gas (LNG). LNG is a cleaner fuel with less carbon emissions than marine gasoil, minimizing our environmental footprint.” (Princess Cruises, Facebook, 8 June 2023)

LNG – a polluting fossil fuel

Fossil LNG is being widely promoted as a ‘climate-friendly’ alternative shipping fuel, and cruise companies are ploughing billions into new fossil LNG-ready ships. However, the evidence is increasingly suggesting that fossil LNG has devastating implications for the climate. Consisting mainly of methane, fossil LNG is an extremely potent greenhouse gas which has climate impacts over 80 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. There is a growing body of scientific evidence showing that, despite what the advertising suggests, there are no lifecycle climate benefits to its use.

Driven by the uptake of fossil LNG, methane emissions in shipping increased by 150% between 2012 and 2018. Many new cruise ships coming into commission now – which will remain in service for 30 years on average – are often fossil LNG-ready or reliant, and approximately 60% of new build cruise ship capacity will rely on fossil LNG for primary propulsion. Even more concerning, three out of four cruise companies that control most of the cruise market (Carnival Corporation & plc, Royal Caribbean Group and MSC Cruises) use it on their ships.

Isabela Keuschnigg, Legal Officer at Opportunity Green says:

“Despite what the cruise companies investing heavily in the fuel would like to suggest, fossil LNG is and will remain a polluting fossil fuel. It is not an alternative fuel solution that is consistent with the 1.5°C temperature goal as enshrined in the Paris Agreement.”

“Cruise companies might be quick to point out carbon emissions savings or air pollution benefits linked to the use of fossil LNG in cruise ships. But they keep quiet about the fuel’s methane emissions, even though research has shown that these can cancel out the supposed climate benefits. Not only does the production of fossil LNG result in significant methane emissions across the supply chain before it reaches the ships as a fuel, but burning it on the ships themselves releases unburned methane into the atmosphere, which is devastating for the climate.”

Cruise ship advertising is falling foul of regulations

(Un)Sustainable from Ship to Shore analysed the cruise companies’ advertising of fossil LNG’s supposed climate benefits against the laws and ‘soft law’ guidance and advertising codes that apply in the UK. It concludes that there are grounds to suspect that the adverts could fall foul of relevant regulations. In other words, the advertisements are greenwashing.

Carly Hicks, Legal Director at Opportunity Green says:

“We were astounded at the extent to which cruise companies are advertising fossil LNG as a climate solution, when the science suggests that this is pure greenwash. ‘Sustainability’ sells, but the climate emergency will not be solved by meaningless marketing that does nothing other than help ensure the sustainability of a cruise company’s balance sheet.”

“Consumers – and our climate – deserve better. We are particularly concerned about the systemic nature of the advertising of fossil LNG as a climate-positive fuel by many cruise companies, which is why we are holding these companies to account and filing a series of complaints about their advertisements to the ASA. This tidal wave of greenwash risks giving consumers the impression that taking a cruise can be sustainable, when studies have shown that it can produce more pollution than flying – and fossil LNG is unlikely to change that.”

As a result of the research in the report, Opportunity Green is calling on cruise companies to:

  • Stop advertising fossil LNG as a climate solution which risks misleading consumers as to the true sustainability of their holiday.  

  • Stop investments into climate-damaging fossil LNG as a purported climate solution.

  • Back their net zero pledges with credible transition plans which include investments into real zero emissions solutions supported by the best available science.

  • Remove advertisements where these have misleadingly advertised the climate benefits of fossil LNG.

 

ENDS

 

Notes to editors

Opportunity Green is an NGO working to unlock the opportunities from tackling climate change using law, economics, and policy. We do this by amplifying diverse voices, forging ambitious collaborations and using legal innovation to motivate decision makers and achieve climate justice, with particular emphasis on the aviation and shipping industries.

The full report can be accessed here.

Media contacts:

Carly Hicks
Legal Director, Opportunity Green
carly@opportunitygreen.org

Hannah Jolliffe
Communications Manager, Opportunity Green
hannah@opportunitygreen.org