German court to rule on Apple Watch's climate-neutral ad message

A German court is due to rule on Tuesday morning on whether US technology giant

advertised some of its products with misleading environmental claims.

Since 2023, Apple has advertised three of its smartwatch models in Germany as "carbon neutral."

The majority of emissions are reportedly avoided during manufacturing and transport, with a small remainder offset through nature-based compensation projects, according to the advertisements.

The campaign group Environmental Action Germany (DUH) views these claims as "blatant greenwashing" and has filed a cease-and-desist order for misleading advertising.

If granted by the Frankfurt Regional Court, Apple will have to stop the advertising.

In the initial hearing in June, the court indicated that it does not consider some of Apple's listed compensation projects to be sufficiently long-term.

The company admitted that in a reforestation project in Paraguay, only 25% of the area is secured long-term, and some areas are only leased until 2029. The court, however, believes that consumers expect a timeframe until 2045 or 2050.

DUH doubts any positive climate effect from the plantings. According to DUH's federal managing director, Jürgen Resch, the eucalyptus plantation wood is harvested every 14 years and predominantly burned.

The association believes that forest projects require a duration of several hundred years to genuinely bind carbon dioxide (CO2) released elsewhere in the long term.

Despite the criticism, Apple stands by its claims of the Apple Watch's carbon neutrality and defends them.

A spokesman explained: "Our carbon-neutral products are the result of industry-leading innovations in clean energy and low-carbon designs that significantly reduce emissions. At the same time, we are investing in carefully selected nature-based projects."

He said that they have reduced the emissions of the Apple Watch by more than 75% and invested significantly in nature-based projects to remove hundreds of thousands of metric tons of carbon from the air. The DUH's lawsuits complicate the necessary climate measures, he said.