Hi John,

 

Greenwashing. Fossil fuel giants are expert at it. Since the 70s companies like Exxon have used advertising to promote lies and delay climate action in order to protect their profits. [1] 

 

Ads legitimise their business. But there is nothing legitimate about opening up new fossil fuel projects in the midst of a climate emergency. We don’t want to hear any more of their dangerous lies. 

 

We need all media companies to ban this spin. YouTube has already taken a lead and blocked people from making money on the platform if they spread lies about climate change. [2] But to truly make a difference we need them to go further. 

 

Will you ask YouTube to join us in our fight for the climate - and ban fossil fuel ads from their platform?

Ads from fossil fuel companies paint a pretty picture. Shell claims it is part of the “greatest push for renewable energy the world has ever seen.” But take a closer look, and it’s all hot air. In Shell’s 2020 budget, it allocated $17 billion for fossil fuels, and only $3bn for renewables - the same amount as it planned to spend on marketing. [3] 

 

Influential companies like YouTube, owned by Google, are still accepting ads from fossil fuel giants. Together we watch more than one billion hours of videos there every day. YouTube has a duty to tackle greenwashing on its platform. 

 

So please, YouTube: no more advertisements from fossil fuel companies. Don’t take their money and don’t give them an audience.

Greenwashing is dangerous - it makes people complacent and lulls us into a false sense of security. Who wouldn’t want to believe that Shell and BP are on the case; doing their best? 

 

It’s time to wake up from that dream and ban these falsehoods from the public domain. We need big companies like YouTube to take a stand for the good of people and planet.

 

Thanks for all that you do,

 

Flo

Greenpeace UK

 

[1] Exxon’s climate denial history (Greenpeace)

The forgotten oil ads that told us climate change was nothing (The Guardian)

Revealed: oil sector’s ‘staggering’ $3bn-a-day profits for last 50 years (The Guardian)

 

[2] Google, YouTube ban ads on climate misinformation (BBC)

 

[3] The Greenwashing Files - Shell (Client Earth)

Oil firms’ climate claims are greenwashing, study concludes (The Guardian)

Shell Is Called Out Again for Misleading Climate Ads in Holland (Bloomberg UK)

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