The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has commenced Federal Court proceedings against gas distributor, Australian Gas Networks (AGN), for allegedly engaging in ‘greenwashing’ due to statements made in its ‘Love Gas’ TV and digital ad campaign, which ran in 2022 and 2023. The proceedings are a further example of the ACCC taking action to tackle ‘greenwashing’ and its flow-on effects on consumer trust and engagement, in line with its 2025 enforcement priorities.

What you need to know 

The ACCC has taken issue with four advertisements that featured the following phrases:

• Some things never change, but the flame we use will.
• It’s becoming renewable.
• Controllable, reliable gas.
• For this generation and the next.

In addition, the final frame of each advertisement featured AGN’s logo next to a green flame, and the words “Love gas. Love a renewable gas future” or just “Love Gas”. The advertisements did not contain any qualifications, fine print or disclaimers.

The ACCC alleges that, in making the above statements, AGN represented that the gas it distributes to households on its network will be renewable ‘within a generation’ but that AGN did not have reasonable grounds for making such a representation. In effect, the ACCC alleges that AGN overstated the likelihood of it overcoming significant technical and economic barriers to distribute renewable gas to households within a generation, as it is not currently possible to distribute renewable gas at scale and at an economically viable price. The ACCC further alleges that, even though AGN knew the future of renewable gas was uncertain, it made the above representations to consumers without any warnings, disclaimers or qualifying statements.

The ACCC is seeking declarations, penalties, costs and other orders. We will provide further updates as the proceedings progress.

Greenwashing – an ongoing ACCC priority 

‘Greenwashing’ and environmental claims are an ongoing priority for the ACCC, including because such claims deprive consumers of the opportunity to make fully informed choices about the most appropriate energy sources for use in their homes. The proceedings against AGN follow:

• an internet ‘sweep’ by the ACCC in 2023, which found 57% of businesses reviewed during the sweep were making concerning claims about their environmental credentials;
• the publication of the ACCC’s ‘Making environmental claims – A guide for business’ in December 2023; and
• the ACCC’s successful proceedings against Clorox Australia Pty Ltd who, in April 2025, was ordered to pay an $8.25 million penalty for making false or misleading representations to consumers that certain GLAD kitchen and garbage bags were partly made of recycled ‘ocean plastic’.

Earlier this year, when announcing the ACCC’s enforcement priorities for 2025, ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said that the ACCC had several important investigations on foot and would “proactively target misleading green claims aimed at consumers in a range of sectors including energy, food, fashion, and homewares”. Based on these comments, it is clear we will see further enforcement action from the ACCC in relation to greenwashing this year. 

What does this mean for your business?

Businesses making (or considering making) environmental claims should remain on high alert that the ACCC is going to remain very active in this area. In particular, businesses should ensure that any environmental claims made concerning their products or that are predictive (i.e. dealing with events that may happen in the future) have a reasonable basis and are based on reasonable grounds. In practice, this means ensuring there is strong scientific (or other relevant expert) reports, studies or information to back up any such claims. In the absence of this evidence, businesses run the risk that their claims will be misleading and may come to the attention of the ACCC.