Eni to appeal $5.6M fine for “green” biodiesel advertisement

In Italy, the Wall Street Journal reports that Eni, an energy company that operates primarily in petroleum and natural gas, will appeal the €5 million ($5.6 million) fine that the Italian antitrust authority imposed on the company for advertisements that claimed a biodiesel component of the advertised EniDiesel+ product made from palm oil was “green” and significantly contributes to reducing greenhouse emissions.

In the meantime, the company stopped the biodiesel advertisement campaign and according to the Italian authority said it won’t use the word “green” in its fuel ads again.

According to the Wall Street Journal, environmental groups are calling the Italian competition authority’s fine for false or misleading advertising a “historic ruling.”

“Eni has learned with great surprise the Italian competition authority’s decision,” the oil-and-gas major told the Wall Street Journal, adding that “the company reserves the right to assess the grounds for its appeal to the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio.”

“Today’s authority decision represents the first important sanction for ‘greenwashing’ over misleading advertising messages about how green a product really is,” Francesco Luongo, president of consumer association Movimento Difesa del Cittadino told the Wall Street Journal.