Last year Ottawa passed a bill (Bill C-59) that contained a modest amendment to the Competition Act requiring companies to provide evidence to back up their environmental claims.

Specifically, the Act would be violated if a company “makes a representation to the public with respect to the benefits of a business or business activity for protecting or restoring the environment or mitigating the environmental and ecological causes or effects of climate change that is not based on adequate and proper substantiation…” In short, companies had to stop greenwashing, i.e. telling lies about how they were protecting the environment.

The Pathways Alliance, a coalition of the largest companies operating in Alberta’s tar sands, quickly scrubbed climate and sustainability-related content from their websites, social media and other public communications.

Their political cheerleaders, led by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, attacked the legislation, referring to the amendment as “absurd authoritarian censorship.” It was, in fact, no more than a legal requirement for truth in advertising—commonplace legislation. The Charter guarantees us freedom of expression, even if you are lying, but that doesn’t extend to making “materially false or misleading representations.”

Despite the panic by the oil patch and its supporters, the legislation has not yet brought any legal cases against Canadian oil and gas companies.

Indeed, ClientEarth, an organization that closely monitors case law against the industry, claims that a recent ruling on a case in France was the first such conviction in the world against an oil company. They referred to it as a “historic win against greenwashing.”

The culprit was no less than oil and gas giant TotalEnergies, France’s major oil company, one of the world’s super majors.

The French court ruled, in the precedent-setting case, that TotalEnergies had engaged in “misleading commercial practices” by overstating its climate pledges. According to the court, the company had made environmental claims that “misled” consumers into believing that it could achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 while increasing oil and gas production.

The lawsuit, brought by three environmental groups, targeted dozens of “false advertisements.” It asked that TotalEnergies be required to stop using them and put disclaimers on its ads that include warnings about the impact of fossil fuels on the climate. The court’s ruling requires that the company remove claims concerning carbon neutrality and the energy transition from their advertising.

Jonathan White, a lawyer for ClientEarth, said the judgement sent “a clear warning shot to other oil and gas majors in Europe and beyond: claiming to be part of the transition while backing new fossil fuel projects comes at a tried-and-tested legal price.”

Let’s hope the “beyond” includes Canada. The precedent has been set; now it’s up to the Competition Bureau in Ottawa to keep our oil and gas industry honest.