UN Secretary General António Guterres’ call for
a global ban on fossil-fuel
advertising
earlier this month is just the latest signal of the turning tide when it comes
to shutting down polluter greenwashing
claims.
Many cities and governments are now examining their role in the climate
crisis in terms of media influence and intervention, together with those
industries that risk being complicit in spreading disinformation if they don’t
take action.
Clean Creatives — an anti-fossil-fuel campaign
group for advertisers, PR professionals and their clients — is spearheading one
such movement: To date 2,200 creatives and 1,057 agencies have signed its pledge
to refuse future work with fossil-fuel corporations. Executive director Duncan
Meisel says that
Guterres’ call to action is the right path forward and that polluters should
expect more restrictions on their ability to advertise in the future.
“We are facing a climate emergency that is stretching government budgets,
disrupting business and harming the public. Solving this problem requires a
clear-eyed understanding of who is responsible, and a deliberate move away from
them in all spheres of public life,” he tells Sustainable Brands® (SB).
“Fossil-fuel companies advertise because they know it influences public opinion
and behavior. Their goal is to promote the consumption of coal, oil and gas —
which is their primary product and only plan for the future — and they would not
be investing in marketing if they did not believe it would advance those goals.
Unfortunately, that agenda is incompatible with climate action we need to avoid
disaster; and this kind of pushback will only continue,” he adds.
The 50 Liter Home: Lessons from a multi-industry global collaboration
Join us as leaders from Electrolux and Procter & Gamble share insights and progress to date on ‘The 50 Liter Home’ — a partnership aimed at reducing water consumption in the home, while also generating awareness that leads to better lifestyle choices for sustainable water use — Wednesday, Oct. 16, at SB'24 San Diego.
Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh, recently became the latest UK city to
ban ads
for fossil fuels and other high-carbon products — including those from airlines,
airports, cruise ships and personal vehicles including SUVs, and petrol- and
diesel-powered cars. While the ban only applies to City of Edinburgh
Council-owned sites across the city, it covers prominent public spaces such as
bus stops and billboards — along with sponsored events and other city
partnerships — and is deemed to be world-leading in its approach.
James Ward, campaigner at Adfree Cities,
says the Council’s new policy shows that city leaders are listening to residents
— the majority of whom want greater action on climate change.
“A lot of outdoor advertising appears on bus stops, and young people are more
likely to use public transport; so, we hope that this policy will have an impact
on those young people by taking away the pressure of seeing high-carbon ads on a
daily basis,” he tells SB.
Setting out the rationale for the new ban, the City of Edinburgh Council notes
in a policy
document
that the decision aligns with its 2030 net-zero targets and that to reach these
targets “requires a shift in society’s perception of success, and the
advertising industry has a key role to play in promoting low-carbon behaviors.”
Edinburgh’s crackdown follows similar moves by other UK regions that have taken
steps to curb or prohibit high-carbon advertising and sponsorships. These
include the cities of
Liverpool
and
Norwich;
and the county of Somerset — which has recently adopted a new
policy
calling for an end to advertising for fossil fuels; vehicles powered by petrol,
diesel or hybrid power; and airlines, airports or flights across its highway
assets.
Meanwhile in Europe, the city of
Amsterdam
banned ads from fossil-fuel and aviation companies in subway stations and the
city center in 2021. And while few governments have imposed national bans,
France passed a climate
law
in 2022 prohibiting advertising for energy products related to fossil fuels such
as petrol, energy from the combustion of coal mining, and hydrogen-containing
carbons.
How effective these bans will be in terms of changing consumer perception and
behavior remains to seen; but as a steer, Ward points to Transport for
London’s ban on junk-food
advertising
— which was estimated to have prevented around 95,000 cases of obesity, saving
over £200 million for the National Health Service, between its introduction
in 2019 and a study conducted in
2022.
“The value of the health benefits accrued by these policies far outweighs any
short-term loss in revenue from a reduction in advertising,” Ward says, adding:
“Outdoor advertising doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it’s tied into all sorts of
other areas of life like public health and the environment where councils have
ambitions to make improvements. As much as possible, the more councils can do to
support alternatives to high-carbon lifestyles, the better.”
Mark Shayler, founder of strategy firm Ape and
Good Briefs — a new creative agency that he
calls an “antidote to greenwashing, greenwishing and
greenhushing”
— tells SB that these type of bans can help “de-normalize such products;” but he
believes that ultimately, “the carrot is mightier than the stick” when it comes
to nudging behavior change: “Show a world, a city and a life that’s better
without these things. ‘Imagine better’ would always be my first option,” he
says.
This sentiment is echoed by Whitney
Dailey, EVP for Purpose at
Allison — a global PR and marketing firm
that has signed the Clean Creatives
Pledge.
She believes the same levels of energy and investment that have been ploughed
into fossil-fuel advertising should now be redirected into viable alternatives.
“Even more important perhaps than calling fossil-fuel companies out, we need to
talk about the flip side — the cleaner, healthier, more equitable future that
can be achieved through a transition away from fossil
fuels,”
she tells SB. “We need to strengthen those messages and we need our world
leaders, our business leaders, our celebrities and athletes to reinforce them,
too.”
Get the latest insights, trends, and innovations to help position yourself at the forefront of sustainable business leadership—delivered straight to your inbox.
Maxine Perella is an environmental journalist working in the field of corporate sustainability, circular economy and resource risk.
Published Jun 12, 2024 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST