In City of New York v. Exxon Mobil Corp., No. 2025-01687, 2026 WL 3023932 (N.Y. App. Div. Oct. 8, 2026), the Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed dismissal of New York City’s Consumer Protection law (“CPL”) claims against ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP. The City alleged two forms of deceptive advertising: “product greenwashing,” based on statements that certain gasoline products were cleaner or emissions-reducing, and “corporate greenwashing,” based on statement portraying the companies as leaders in renewable energy and climate related initiatives.

The Court held that the product greenwashing claim failed because the challenged statements did not have the capacity or tendency to mislead consumers. The City did not allege that the statements were outright false; rather, it argued that the companies failed to disclose that the advertised gasoline products still produced greenhouse gas emissions and contributed to climate change. The Court found that theory inconsistent with the City’s own premise that consumers are broadly aware that fossil fuel use produces greenhouse gases and contributes to climate change. It also emphasized that the challenged statements were comparative, representing that particular fuels could reduce emission relative to other gasoline products, not that the fuels were emission-free or environmentally equivalent to non-fossil fuel alternatives. Some statements were also nonactionable aspiration, opinion, or puffery.

The Court separately held that the corporate greenwashing claim fell outside the CPL because the challenged statements were not made “in connection with” the sale or offering for sale of consumer goods or services. Statements concerning renewable-energy investments, lower-carbon goals, and corporate climate efforts were branding or public-relations statements rather than representations tied to particular consumer transactions.

In the environmental law context, the decision demonstrates that greenwashing claims remain constrained by the particular consumer-protection statute invoked. Climate related promotional statements may not be actionable where they are comparative rather than false, concern information that the Court regards as widely known, or lack a sufficient nexus to a consumer sale. The Court expressly distinguished broader consumer protection statutes in other jurisdictions that are not limited to statements connected to specific consumer transactions.