Lufthansa Group

Does the core business genuinely avoid or reduce emissions, or build climate resilience? Share of revenue that is actually 'green'. Fossil-dependent models score low.

Aviation is structurally carbon-intensive; Lufthansa emitted 29.37 million tonnes of CO₂ from flight operations in 2025 alone, SAF represented only ~1.5% of fuel used, and absolute emissions are growing with traffic recovery — no near-term pathway exists to genuinely cut gross emissions at scale.

Credible, science-based targets (SBTi), a real net-zero plan with progress to date, and CDP disclosure — not just a dated press release.

The SBTi validated Lufthansa's 30.6% CO₂-intensity reduction target (vs. 2019 by 2030) in August 2022 — a genuine credential — but it is an intensity target not an absolute one, the net-zero 2050 target relies heavily on offsets and unproven DACCS, and actual intensity progress was only 3.8% in the 2024 reporting year, far behind the required trajectory.

Operational footprint, labour and social practices, and governance quality across the company's own operations and supply chain.

Lufthansa holds an MSCI ESG rating of A, a CDP B score, and a Sustainalytics medium-risk score, purchases 100% renewable electricity for ground operations in core European markets, and is investing €2.5bn/year in fleet renewal; labour practices and governance are broadly in line with DAX-listed peers, though large-scale industrial action (pilot strikes) recurs periodically.

Quality of disclosure, independent third-party verification, and how much hard data backs the company's claims.

Lufthansa publishes full CSRD-aligned non-financial declarations, SASB disclosures, Scope 1/2/3 breakdowns, and SBTi progress metrics with independent third-party verification; CDP B and MSCI A reflect above-average disclosure quality for airlines, though non-CO₂ climate effects (contrails, NOx) remain largely unquantified in targets.

Controversies, litigation, pollution, fossil-fuel lobbying, conflict-zone involvement and governance scandals. Higher means cleaner.

German environmental NGO DUH won a greenwashing lawsuit against Lufthansa over deceptive carbon-offset advertising; the UK ASA ruled against Lufthansa green claims; Lufthansa and its subsidiaries (Austrian, Brussels, Eurowings, SWISS) were named in the EU Commission's 2024 enforcement action against 20 airlines for misleading environmental claims; and all 21 airlines including Lufthansa signed a November 2025 pledge to stop implying flights can be 'neutralised' — confirming prior practices were deceptive.