Greenpeace's Intention not to 'Weaken' Ad Industry

The growing urgency and the conversation around the climate crisis is almost at fever pitch ahead of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26, where world leaders will discuss their future environmental commitments. In advance, a campaign involving 20 green organizations—including Greenpeace—has begun calling for a ban on the advertising and sponsorship promotion of fossil fuel brands. As many of the advertising industry's biggest clients are fossil fuel brands, such as Shell and BP—which have also promoted renewable energy initiatives in recent years—the impact of such a ban would be hard-hitting, but necessary on a global scale, green campaigners argue. 'Stand on the right side of history,' warns Greenpeace The campaign calls on the introduction of a European Union law that would make advertising such companies illegal and doesn’t stop with petroleum brands—it also includes cars, airlines and maritime companies. We do not intend to weaken the advertising industry [which] can fall back on other clients outside of the fossil fuel industry to rely on income.Georgia Whitaker, lead campaigner for Fossil Free Revolution, Greenpeace Netherlands “With a fresh Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report sounding the alarm and a month to go until COP26, the writing is on the wall,” Georgia Whitaker, lead campaigner for Fossil Free Revolution, Greenpeace Netherlands told Adweek. “The advertising industry needs to stand on the right side of history and stop taking money from fossil fuel companies. Just like the tobacco industry did, the fossil fuel industry is using advertisements as propaganda to deceive the public and politicians. Greenwashing is the new climate denial, and it's delaying the climate action we so desperately need. Advertising and PR companies need to wake up, halt their complicity in climate breakdown and say no to fossil advertising,” she added. To prompt the discussion of such a law being introduced, the campaign has begun an online petition, which aims to attract 1 million people to sign— the number of signatories required before the EU Commission will consider such a motion. https://twitter.com/greenpeacepress/status/1444952463300235267?s=20 At the time of writing, over 11,000 people had registered their support within hours of Greenpeace activists highlighting the campaign by blockading Shell’s refinery in Rotterdam port. Other environmental organizations involved in the campaign include Friends of the Earth, Actionaid, ClientEarth, Badvertising, Adfree Cities and Stop Funding Heat. On why the advertising industry should back the campaign, Whitaker said that group knew there would be “a lot of push back against” the ban on fossil fuel companies being banned from using its services, but said that climate action must be treated as “serious” rather than “tokenistic”. Young Marketers Want Ad Agencies to Cut Ties With Big Oil “Groups such as Clean Creatives are calling for the advertising industry to stop taking fossil fuel companies money, and in the last two years have launched a pledge, which over 132 agencies and 400 creatives have signed, to no longer take fossil fuel companies' advertising money,” Whitaker said, naming Forsman & Bodenfors as one such agency. “We do not intend to weaken the advertising industry, [which] can fall back on other clients outside of the fossil fuel industry to rely on income. The industry we are trying to weaken is the fossil fuel industry [which is] destroying the planet,” they continued. “We welcome creatives into this push to rethink the way we transform advertising from promoting dangerous businesses to a sustainable and ethical industry for creative people to thrive in.” 'Massive ramifications' for the industry The impact of such a ban, however, would be industry-changing should it be introduced. “Any ban on fossil fuel advertising would have to be radically pragmatic rather than ideological,” said Jake Dubbins, managing director of ethical creative agency Media Bounty. Dubbins argues that “independent oversight” from climate experts should be sought to ensure transparency when scrutinizing company plans to meet science-based targets. He also calls out the hypocrisy, as he sees it, of the advertising and marketing industry's claims to be aiming for carbon neutrality while creating adverts for companies that burn fossil fuels and harm the environment. “Companies cannot keep advertising [their] renewable credentials if [their] actions are doing the exact opposite,” he said. "That said, any ban should have clear science-based rules on criteria for when a company is no longer banned if it genuinely transforms to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.” He admitted that the banning of fossil fuel advertising in the EU would have “massive ramifications” for the industry and recognized that people had mouths to feed and jobs to do when working for such clients. “The advertising industry has been doing a good job so far of getting its house in order with Ad Net Zero, the launch of Ad Green’s carbon calculator and the IPA’s Media Climate Charter. There now needs to be a plan for a transition out of fossil fuels regardless of any ban.” Greenpeace targets Conservative Party Conference Elsewhere, Greenpeace enlisted creative agency Daughter to create a campaign lobbying the British chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to commit an extra $34.03 billion (25 billion pounds) a year to green initiatives. The campaign ran outside the annual Conservative Party Conference on Monday Oct. 4 in Manchester where he was set to address party members. The “Backwards Move” campaign included posters, advertising bikes and full-page newspaper ads, as well as social media assets and conference fliers. The Guardian newspaper was the first to announce its intention to ban running fossil fuel advertising in January 2020. Scottish Government Shows World the Climate Crisis Impact

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Greenpeace Says Its Intention Is Not to 'Weaken' Ad Industry as It Calls for EU Ban on Fossil Fuel Marketing

The environmental group has teamed with other campaigners to lobby the EU

‘Stand on the right side of history,’ warns Greenpeace

Stephen Lepitak

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‘Stand on the right side of history,’ warns Greenpeace

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Stephen Lepitak