• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
‘Remarkable Rebuke’: 130 U.S, EU Legislators Ask UN to Ditch Fossil CEO as COP 28 Chair May 23, 2023
Ontario Overrules Cities to Push Gas Plant Expansions May 23, 2023
Climate Concerns Drive Job Choices for 40% of Workers Under 40 May 23, 2023
PEROVSKITES: Qcells Plans First Production Line for ‘Miracle’ Solar Cell May 23, 2023
Tokyo Residents Rally to Protect Trees, Stop Skyscrapers in Iconic Urban Park May 21, 2023
Next
Prev

Fossils’ Green PR Outpaces Low-Carbon Investment, Content Analysis Finds

September 11, 2022
Reading time: 3 minutes
Primary Author: The Energy Mix staff

Drilling Oil Rig Platform Oil Sea Drill Gas

Drilling Oil Rig Platform Oil Sea Drill Gas

7
SHARES
 

Five of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies put a lot more effort into public messaging last year than actual low-carbon investments, concludes a content analysis released last week by InfluenceMap.

BP, Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and TotalÉnergies spent at least US$750 million on climate-related messaging, with 60% of their public statements containing green claims and another 23% promoting oil and gas, the London, UK-based climate finance think tank says in a release. They only devoted 12% of their capital expenditures, between US$87 and $96 billion, to green investments.

  • Concise headlines. Original content. Timely news and views from a select group of opinion leaders. Special extras.
  • Everything you need, nothing you don’t.
  • The Weekender: The climate news you need.
Subscribe

“The world’s big oil and gas companies are spending huge amounts of time and money talking up their ‘green’ credentials, while their business investments and lobbying activities tell a very different story,” InfluenceMap Program Manager Faye Holder said in the release.

“These companies talk about cutting emissions and transitioning the energy mix, but at the same time continue to invest heavily in new fossil fuels,” she added. “While this PR strategy might convince some people, it doesn’t change the fact that these companies are out of step with science-based pathways to net-zero.”

The research also showed all the companies but TotalÉnergies “engaging policy-makers directly to advocate for policies encouraging the development of new oil and gas in 2021-22,” the release says.

The content analysis covered 3,421 communications from the five colossal fossils, including company and CEO social media accounts, media releases, speeches, and secondary websites meant for outreach, InfluenceMap says. The dollar figure for climate-related messaging was understated, since it left out agency fees and external advertising.

“None of the companies have aligned their climate policy engagement activities with the goals of the Paris Agreement,” Influence Map states on the landing page for the report. The companies “retain a dense and global network of industry associations globally, which are highly active in their opposition to Paris-aligned climate policies,” including the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the American Petroleum Institute, and the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association.

“Companies lobby governments. They always have,” said Natasha Landell-Mills, head of stewardship at UK-based investment advisory group Sarasin & Partners. “While ensuring well-informed policies that minimize unintended harm is in the public interest, corporate lobbying that promotes narrow interests at the expense of society is not.

The InfluenceMap analysis “paints a picture of a corporate effort to block more robust climate action,” she added. “This jars with these same companies’ expensive marketing campaigns that portray them as building a green future for society. If oil and gas majors are serious about delivering a sustainable planet, it is time they called for the robust policy measures they know are needed. It is also time they publicly disassociate themselves from lobbying initiatives that seek the opposite.”

“The time to act on climate disinformation is now,” said Greens Member of European Parliament (MEP) Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield. “This report shows the lengths oil and gas companies are willing to go to mislead citizens and protect their own interests. But protecting the environment from their harmful actions is in all of our interests.”

Shell took issue with InfluenceMap’s findings, saying the analysis missed its marketing investments in low-carbon businesses like electric vehicle charging and [Shell said] bioethanol. “We are already investing billions of dollars in lower-carbon energy,” a spokesperson told the Guardian. “To help alter the mix of energy Shell sells, we need to grow these new businesses rapidly. That means letting our customers know through advertising or social media what lower-carbon solutions we offer now or are developing, so they can switch when the time is right for them.”

“The world will still need oil and gas for many years to come,” the Shell spokesperson added. “Investment in them will ensure we can supply the energy people will still have to rely on, while lower-carbon alternatives are scaled up.”

TotalÉnergies and Exxon responded with quotes that described their low-carbon initiatives. The Guardian says Chevron and BP did not respond to requests for comments.



in Climate Denial & Greenwashing, Energy Politics, Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion, Oil & Gas, UK & Europe, United States

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Arctic Circle/flickr
COP Conferences

‘Remarkable Rebuke’: 130 U.S, EU Legislators Ask UN to Ditch Fossil CEO as COP 28 Chair

May 23, 2023
357
Inspiration 4 Photos/flickr
Climate Impacts & Adaptation

Cooling Upper Atmosphere Has Scientists ‘Very Worried’

May 23, 2023
216
Jon Sullivan/flickr
Clean Electricity Grid

Ontario Overrules Cities to Push Gas Plant Expansions

May 23, 2023
841

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

François GOGLINS/wikimedia commons

Corrosion Problem Shutters Half of France’s Nuclear Reactors

August 2, 2022
3.7k
University of Oxford Press Office/flickr

PEROVSKITES: Qcells Plans First Production Line for ‘Miracle’ Solar Cell

May 23, 2023
392
Arctic Circle/flickr

‘Remarkable Rebuke’: 130 U.S, EU Legislators Ask UN to Ditch Fossil CEO as COP 28 Chair

May 23, 2023
357
Jon Sullivan/flickr

Ontario Overrules Cities to Push Gas Plant Expansions

May 23, 2023
841
nakashi/flickr

Tokyo Residents Rally to Protect Trees, Stop Skyscrapers in Iconic Urban Park

May 21, 2023
471
Inspiration 4 Photos/flickr

Cooling Upper Atmosphere Has Scientists ‘Very Worried’

May 23, 2023
216

Recent Posts

Andrés Nieto Porras/wikimedia commons

‘Carbon Neutral’, ‘Net-Zero’ Claims Face Global Greenwash Crackdown

May 23, 2023
192
Activités culturelles UdeM/Flickr

Climate Concerns Drive Job Choices for 40% of Workers Under 40

May 23, 2023
154
peellden/Wikimedia Commons

Scientists Sound Alarm on Methane Emissions, Habitat Hazards at U.S. Hydro Dams

May 23, 2023
145
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/unrecognizable-from-the-original-design-suburban-renovations-disprove-cookie-cutter-stereotype

Embrace Suburbs, Exurbs in Climate Planning, Researchers Urge Cities

May 21, 2023
45
Trocker767/wikimedia commons

Renewable-Powered Greenhouse Brings Fresh Produce Bounty to Gjoa Haven Inuit

May 21, 2023
56
HarmvdB/pixabay

Vermont Gas Utility Pivots to Heat Pumps

May 21, 2023
358
Next Post
/Pikist

Clean Energy Employs Majority of Energy Workers Worldwide, IEA Reports

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}