Climate-friendly production in the food industry: scientific assessment of climate-related statements such as 'climate neutral' or 'climate positive' on products

In the food industry, companies are increasingly advertising their products with statements such as 'climate neutral' and/or 'climate positive'. These statements are usually based on the companies' carbon footprints and concrete measures for the avoidance and reduction of climate-relevant emissions. Since greenhouse gas emissions cannot be reduced to zero with these statements, the companies offset the remaining CO _2e emissions by purchasing compensation certificates in the same amount ('climate neutral') or in an amount that exceeds the remaining emissions ('climate positive'). Currently, the use of corresponding advertising claims is not legally regulated. Against this background, there is a danger of greenwashing, for example when companies do not implement any measures at all for avoidance and reduction, but simply compensate their CO _2e emissions. The objective of the project is to examine three companies in the food industry, each for one of their products, to what extent the statements made on the sales packaging with regard to climate protection performance can be sufficiently substantiated by corresponding activities of the company.