On Wednesday, a group of more than 450 scientists called on advertising agencies to cut off their fossil fuel clients and to end their ties with an ongoing misinformation campaign that has time and again killed progress on addressing the climate crisis.
In a joint letter, the scientists say that they are “consistently faced with a major and needless challenge” of having to correct false information and rebut the fossil fuel industry’s efforts to downplay the severity of climate change. The expensive and glossy ad campaigns “represent one of the biggest barriers to the government action science shows is necessary to mitigate the ongoing climate emergency,” the letter stated.
The letter was sent to advertising companies WPP, Edelman, and IPG, as well as some of their clients, including Unilever, Amazon and Microsoft, which all have announced various climate and sustainability pledges.
“The science could not be more clear: We must eliminate carbon pollution as soon as possible — nearly 50% this decade, and fully by 2050. That requires an immediate and rapid transition away from all fossil fuels,” the scientists wrote. “To put it simply, advertising and public relations campaigns for fossil fuels must stop.”
Coordinated with Clean Creatives, a climate campaign meant to pressure the advertising industry, and the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, the letter was organized and signed by a group of leading scientists including Jason Box, Astrid Caldas, Peter Gleick, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Michael Mann, Kate Marvel, and Katharine Wilkinson.
These people are intimately familiar with the rapidly destabilizing climate and its effects on the planet, and have been contributing to the scientific understanding that underscores the necessity of rapidly shifting away from fossil fuels. They study glaciers and global temperature changes, climate solutions and adaptation, the oceans and the human influence on global warming. And as this letter makes clear, they have had enough.
“I’m glad to see scientists and activists pressuring firms like Edelman, as this elevates a critical issue across the PR and ad industry,” Christine Arena, a former VP at Edelman, who has sought to expose the greenwashing done by the PR industry on behalf of its fossil fuel clients, said in a statement to DeSmog, commenting on the impact of the scientists’ letter.
I understand agency employees wanting to protect their anonymity to preserve business relationships, but this moment calls for courage. Just like COVID disinformation, climate disinfo costs lives.
If you don’t speak out now, then when?#LeakForPlanet
— Christine Arena (@ChristineArena) January 20, 2022
But, she added, it is not just a matter of who PR firms represent, but how they do it.
“While some agencies have come forward with new climate statements and principles, none have acknowledged the peer-reviewed research regarding their role. None have admitted to any wrongdoing or answered the question: What are they doing to contain climate disinformation and greenwash today?” Arena said.
Front Groups, False Solutions, and Promotional PR
The fossil fuel industry’s spin has long eschewed outright climate science denial and instead shifted to a multi-pronged strategy to delay a reckoning on climate change – and PR firms have played an instrumental role in this effort.
As researchers at Brown University’s Climate and Development Lab have noted, the advertising industry has helped fossil fuel companies distort climate science, promote false or misleading solutions, create astroturf campaigns to distract and confuse the public, and attack environmental groups. As hired mercenaries, PR firms often cite their environmental clients in an attempt to absolve themselves of complicity in derailing climate action.