Feb 27 (Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) has been sued by

consumers who said its claim that three versions of Apple

Watches are "carbon neutral" and environmentally friendly is

false and misleading.

In a complaint filed on Wednesday in San Jose, California

federal court, seven purchasers of the green-tagged Apple Watch

Series 9, SE and Ultra 2 said they would not have bought their

watches or would have paid less had they known the truth.

Apple ( AAPL ), also known for the iPhone, launched the watches in

September 2023, saying they would be carbon neutral through a

combination of lower emissions and purchases of carbon offsets.

But the plaintiffs--from California, Florida and Washington,

D.C.--said two carbon offsetting projects on which Apple ( AAPL ) relied

to meet its corporate emissions target did not provide "genuine"

carbon reductions.

They said much of the land in Kenya's Chyulu Hills Project

lies within a national park protected from deforestation since

1983, while land for China's Guinan Project was heavily covered

by trees even before the project began in 2015.

"In both cases, the carbon reductions would have occurred

regardless of Apple's ( AAPL ) involvement or the projects' existence,"

the complaint said. "Because Apple's ( AAPL ) carbon neutrality claims

are predicated on the efficacy and legitimacy of these projects,

Apple's ( AAPL ) carbon neutrality claims are false and misleading."

The plaintiffs also said 70% of U.S. and Canadian consumers

consider environmental sustainability crucial when making

purchases, citing a study by the National Retail Federation and

IBM.

Apple ( AAPL ) did not immediately respond on Thursday to requests

for comment.

The Cupertino, California-based company has aimed to be

carbon neutral by 2030, including in its supply chain.

Wednesday's lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an

injunction blocking Apple ( AAPL ) from marketing the three watches as

carbon neutral.

The case is Dib et al v Apple Inc ( AAPL ), U.S. District Court,

Northern District of California, No. 25-02043.