The Italian Competition and Market Authority has imposed a fine of 5 million euros on Eni for a misleading commercial practice in connection with the Enidiesel+ advertising campaign.
According to the advertisement, the diesel known as "Enidiesel+" is a "green" and renewable fuel capable of reducing "greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 per cent". The Italian Competition and Market Authority, however, takes a different view, and has imposed a fine of 5 million euros on Eni, the Italian oil giant, following a complaint filed by Legambiente, the Movimento difesa del cittadino and the association Transport & Environment for unfair commercial practice in violation of the Consumer Code.
"A historic decision", was how Stefano Ciafani, president of Legambiente, described it in a press release, "because for the first time in Italy there is official talk of greenwashing, and because this great deception perpetrated against citizens by one of the climate's greatest enemies — Eni — has finally been exposed".
Eni Diesel+ is currently produced at the refineries in Venice and Gela through the use of a 15 per cent component of HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil), a component derived from crude palm oil and its derivatives, as official data from the GSE (Gestore servizi energetici) confirm. According to the GSE, approximately 550,000 tonnes ended up in the tanks of cars and lorries.
The ruling states that "it is particularly misleading to use the name green diesel and the qualifiers 'green' and 'renewable' to refer to the HVO component of the product", principally because of the emissions associated with the use of palm oil. It further argues that there is no justification or calculation to support a 5 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
"There is no such thing as green diesel produced from palm oil or other food crops, because it causes deforestation – declared Veronica Aneris, Transport & Environment's director for Italy –. Oil companies must stop trying to mislead citizens and policymakers with the false claim of diesel that is good for the environment and for health. They should instead invest in truly sustainable solutions, such as renewable electricity, and the government must play its part in pushing fossil fuel multinationals to make a proper contribution to the transition to zero emissions".
Our country is the second largest producer of biodiesel from palm oil in the European Union. More than half (54 per cent) of all palm oil and derivatives imported into Italy in 2018 was used to produce biodiesel, primarily at Eni's refineries in Porto Marghera and Gela. The palm oil comes mainly from Indonesia and, to a lesser extent, from Malaysia — two countries, the former in particular, where the problem of deforestation is pressing and where it is still not possible to certify the sustainability of the product.
The use of palm oil for biodiesel grew by 3 per cent in 2018, while its use in other sectors such as food and animal feed production fell significantly (-11 per cent). Last March, the European Union itself established that palm oil cannot be considered a green fuel and should not be incentivised, precisely because it causes deforestation. Its use will be gradually reduced from 2023, with the aim of eliminating it entirely by 2030.