Oil and gas companies have placed advertisements across London’s public transport system, drawing ire for their attempts to influence politicians.
What happens?
Environmental news site DeSmog reported on the campaigns, finding that London’s public transport network (TfL) has shown over 240 advertising campaigns from major oil and gas companies since the mayoral election. Sadiq Khan set itself the goal of becoming a carbon-free city in 2018. This figure increases fivefold when you include energy suppliers that still use fossil fuels in their services.
In addition, the ads focused on Westminster and St. James’s Park tube stations, which are frequently used by politicians, government staff and political advisers, DeSmog reports.
This comes at a time when oil and gas companies are already under scrutiny for their misleading advertising, including numerous greenwashing campaigns that suggest oil is “low carbon” or that clean energy is a higher priority for the companies than it actually is.
“Many in the fossil fuel industry are shamelessly greenwashing while simultaneously trying to delay climate action – with lobbying, legal threats and massive advertising campaigns,” DeSmog quoted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as saying.
Earlier this summer, Guterres called for a global ban on fossil fuel advertising, saying that advertising and PR companies were “complicated in the destruction of the planet.”
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Why is this advertising harmful?
“These campaigns definitely have an impact on politicians,” Nicholas Cosburn, a former parliamentary assistant, told DeSmog. “I think being able to campaign in Westminster Station is the closest thing to campaigning in Parliament itself.”
“There is no doubt that advertising influences people’s behaviour and the image of companies and has the ability to directly influence decision-makers like me,” agreed Sian Berry, a former member of the London Assembly (and recently elected to Parliament), who described the campaigns as “insidious”.
Even if politicians are not influenced by the ads – and no one can prove whether they are or not – other environmentalists worry about the message they send to voters.
“TfL risks having its climate commitments completely undermined by the fossil fuel advertising that saturates its network,” DeSmog quotes Veronica Wignall of Adfree Cities as saying. “Allowing the fossil fuel industry to continue to advertise on London’s tubes, buses and billboards will undermine the Mayor’s climate goals by allowing some of the world’s biggest polluters to gain public and political support. That support will then lead to delayed action, watered-down regulations and more emissions.”
What is being done about these ads?
Opponents of the advertising argue that Mayor Khan has already set a precedent for banning harmful campaigns by restricting advertising for certain unhealthy foods in 2019. A subsequent government study showed that calorie intake of these foods in London fell significantly in the following year.
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