United Nations States that Fossil Fuel Advertising Must Come to a Halt
Last week, during World Environment Day, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres gave a speech at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, emphasizing the need for countries to ban fossil fuel advertising.
photo by BigStock
“It's madmen fueling the madness,” Guterres said about PR and advertising companies aiding fossil fuel corporations to advertise and disinform their audience.
An EU weather monitoring system confirmed that May was the hottest it has ever been recorded, which rounds out a perfect year of record-breaking temperatures. The world has jumped 34°F since pre-industrial times. With the burning of coal, natural gas, oil and heat is without a doubt one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions drive global warming by trapping heat within the atmosphere. In the last 50 years, the use of fossil fuels has doubled and while countries around the world are starting to fix their massive consumption of these nonrenewable resources, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have all reached record high last year.
Guterres, in his speech, pointed out that advertising, public relations, news, and tech companies are complicit in the destruction of our planet. He called for an end to the promotion of fossil fuels and for these companies to sever ties with the fossil fuel industry. Guterres' proposal is akin to the restrictions placed on tobacco and cigarette advertising, aiming to curb the influence of these environmentally harmful industries.
Fossil fuel companies have leveraged social media, influencers, and events to advance their harmful agendas. A recent analysis revealed that these corporations are investing millions of dollars in their advertising campaigns, further perpetuating the cycle of fossil fuel consumption.
About a year ago, there was an accusation that YouTube was profiting from advertisements that were spreading climate disinformation. The accusation of disinformation is important here because, unlike misinformation, disinformation is false information dispersed with the intention of misleading the audience. The global coalition of climate and anti-disinformation organizations identified over 200 videos containing the false advertisements that accumulated roughly 73 million views.
With this call to action to ban the advertising on fossil fuels and to overall cut ties with these corporations, it has the potential for a major shift away from fossil fuels and make way for a cleaner future.
