More than 500 advertising and PR firms pledge not to work with fossil fuel companies

Clean Creatives ran several campaigns to raise awareness of the fossil fuel industries influence in advertising and marketing

The Clean Creatives campaign group has confirmed that more than 500 organisations and individuals across the advertising and PR industry have signed up to its pledge to not work with fossil fuel companies on issues like communications and recruitment.

In the two and a half years that the campaign has been running, advertising, communications and graphic design agencies, industry individuals, and recruitment agencies worldwide have all made the pledge.

“The advertising industry is changing, and these agencies are at the forefront of a historic shift away from polluting clients. They are showing that you can grow a powerful creative business without relying on fossil fuel clients,” Clean Creatives’ executive director Duncan Meisel said.

“The question for executives at other agencies is simple: do you want to be a leader in this transition, or will you be left behind by it? Our industry’s brightest minds are ready to come together to address the climate crisis, and we hope these pledges inspire others to join us in this effort.”

Clean Creatives ran several campaigns to raise awareness of the fossil fuel industries influence in advertising and marketing, including the annual F-List report the names and quantifies the number of advertising and PR companies working for the fossil fuel industry.

Last year, Clean Creatives convened more than 450 scientists to issue a letter that called on PR and advertising agencies to introduce measures to stop the spread of climate “disinformation”.

Led by scientists including Dr. Jason Box, Dr. Astrid Caldas, Dr. Peter Gleick, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Dr. Michael Mann, Dr. Kate Marvel and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, the letter warns that fossil fuel companies are working with these agencies to spread misinformation about their own approaches to sustainability.

Scientists called on the agencies to drop fossil fuel clients that plan to expand the production of oil and gas. Analysis from the Guardian previously found that more than one in five climate-related ads on Google search engines “were placed by companies with significant interests in fossil fuels”.

The letter alludes to previous studies published in the scientific journal Climatic Change late last year that identified hundreds of campaigns by PR, advertising and marketing firms designed to obstruct climate action.

Comments (1)

  1. Di Booth says:

    Great news; great position to take.
    We all know that right now we have no alternative but to use O&G, particularly for transportation purposes, but it won’t always be that way.
    We need to stop the subsidies and new permits if for no other reason but to stop that industry will having stranded assets soon.

    #JustStopOil

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