German Court Prohibits Apple from Calling Its Watch Carbon Neutral

• The German court prohibited Apple from advertising its watch as carbon neutral.
• The court pointed out the inadequacy of carbon credits through short-term offsets.
• The environmental group considers the court's decision a step back in the fight against "greenwashing".

This was reported by TechCrunch, Asharq Al-Awsat.

The German court upheld the ruling that Apple can no longer advertise its Apple Watch as a carbon neutral product in Germany. This was the result of a lawsuit from the environmental organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), which asserts that the company misled consumers.

Apple previously claimed that the Apple Watch Series 9 is its first carbon neutral product. However, the court found that each Series 9 and Series 10 watch generates more than 8 kilograms of carbon emissions, which the company offsets by purchasing carbon credits.

The project, for which Apple is seeking compensation for emissions, involves the planting of eucalyptus trees in Paraguay, but 75% of the land on which the project is realized is only designated for 2029. The court noted that this short-term offset raises doubts about the long-term carbon neutrality of the product.

The court stated that consumers have the right to expect that forests, which are used for CO2 compensation, remain until 2050, unless the Paris Agreement stipulates otherwise for greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of the century.

Apple has not yet commented on the court's decision, which may be appealed.

Tags: Europe/Technology/Devices/Ecology