Some of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies have used advertising to “greenwash” their contribution to the climate crisis, according to files published by environmental lawyers ClientEarth.
They describe the practice as “a great deception.”
The files compare the adverts produced by ExxonMobil, Aramco, Chevron, Shell, Equinor and others with the companies’ operations and products, overall climate impact and progress toward climate-safe business models.
Photo: EPA-EFE
ClientEarth is calling on policymakers to ban all fossil fuel company ads unless they come with tobacco-style health warnings about the risks of global heating to people and the planet.
Its lawyers lodged a complaint in 2019 alleging that BP’s advertising campaigns misled the public by focusing on the company’s low-carbon energy products, when more than 96 percent of its annual spend was on oil and gas.
BP withdrew the ads before the complaint was assessed.
ClientEarth said it is now putting other fossil fuel companies on notice over greenwashing adverts.
“We’re currently witnessing a great deception, where the companies most responsible for catastrophically heating the planet are spending millions on advertising campaigns about how their business plans are focused on sustainability,” ClientEarth lawyer Johnny White said.
“We need to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, but instead of leading a low-carbon transition these companies are putting out advertising which distracts the public and launders their image,” White said. “Our research shows these adverts are misrepresenting the true nature of companies’ businesses, of their contribution to climate change, and of their transition plans.”
ClientEarth’s analysis includes claims that ExxonMobil advertising suggested its experimental algae biofuels could one day reduce transport emissions, while it has no company-wide net zero target and its 2025 emission reduction targets do not include the vast majority of emissions resulting from its products.
Saudi Arabia’s Aramco said it conducted business “in a way that addresses the climate challenge,” yet it is the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitter and plans to continue exploring for more oil and gas, despite having reserves greater than those of Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP and Total combined.
Chevron said it is “ part of the solution “ to climate change, but does not have a net zero commitment or a strategy aligned with the Paris climate agreement, and its plans for carbon capture and storage cover less than 1 percent of its 2019 carbon emissions .
Shell said it is investing in “lower-carbon biofuels and hydrogen, electric vehicle charging, solar and wind power,” but in last year it earmarked between US$2 billion and US$3 billion a year for low-carbon businesses, compared with US$17 billion on fossil fuels operations.
Norway’s Equinor has talked of growing renewable capacity tenfold by 2026 , but renewables are only planned to be 4 percent of its energy by that date.
ClientEarth said warnings on oil company adverts should state that fossil fuel products are the main cause of global heating and that companies must divulge how much they are spending on fossil fuels compared with their low-carbon businesses.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
For two decades, researchers observed members of the Ngogo chimpanzee group of Kibale National Park in Uganda spend their days eating fruits and leaves, resting, traveling and grooming in their tropical rainforest abode, but this stable community then fractured and descended into years of deadly violence. The researchers are now describing the first clearly documented example of a group of wild chimpanzees splitting into two separate factions, with one launching a series of coordinated attacks against the other. Adult males and infants were targeted, with 28 deaths. “Biting, pounding the victim with their hands, dragging them, kicking them — mostly adult males,
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
SUPERFAN: The Japanese PM played keyboard in a Deep Purple tribute band in middle school and then switched to drums at university, she told the British rock band Legendary British rock band Deep Purple yesterday made Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s day with a brief visit to their high-profile superfan as they returned to the nation they first toured more than half a century ago. Takaichi’s reputation as an amateur drummer, and a fan of hard rock and heavy metal has been well documented, and she has referred to Deep Purple as one of her favorite bands along with the likes of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. “You are my god,” a giddy Takaichi said in English to Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, presenting him with a set of made-in-Japan
RSS