Dispute over new term
dm no longer calls products “climate neutral”
October 23, 2023, 3:33 p.m
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The term “climate neutral” will no longer appear on products from the drugstore chain dm in the future. The Company will not pursue any related litigation regarding use. However, they want to stick to an alternative name, despite legal headwinds.
The drugstore chain dm will no longer advertise products with the label “climate neutral” in the future. The company announced that it would not appeal against a corresponding ruling by the Karlsruhe Regional Court. However, dm wants to continue to fight for permission to use the term “environmentally neutral”.
The organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) had sued dm and other companies. In July, the Karlsruhe regional court ruled in favor of the environmentalists: dm could not keep its promise of climate-neutral products such as liquid soap or sunscreen. The court did not consider the compensation of CO2 emissions during production through projects, such as forest protection, to be sufficient.
The company now explained that dm had already decided in October 2022 not to use the “climate neutral” label in the future. Legal questions about the use of the label are currently being clarified in other proceedings, so “in our view there is no reason for the judiciary to continue to deal with it in our proceedings”.
The Karlsruhe court had also banned the use of the term “environmentally neutral” because the corresponding products did not have a balanced environmental balance. DM wants to continue to defend itself against this decision. “We strongly believe that our science-based approach is holistic and groundbreaking,” the company said.