Did you know that fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) are responsible for over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions? The companies that extract them spend hundreds of millions for swanky marketing and communication strategies, trying to draw our attention away from the catastrophic climate impact of their activities.
New studies have even revealed that there are direct links between fossil fuel emissions and climate change fuelled wildfires, yet nothing is changing because they are choosing profit over fighting climate change
What exactly is greenwashing?
Greenwashing is deceitful marketing that takes shape through advertising, cultural sponsorship, sports sponsorship, partnerships, etc. The objective is to convince you that big companies care about the environment and are climate leaders — when that’s far from the truth.
Greenwashing misleads consumers about the true environmental impact of a company, by creating an environmentally responsible image. It gives a company an appealing eco-friendly front, by promoting false solutions and by establishing misleading communications.
Put simply, companies try to convince you they are doing more for the environment than they are actually doing. For example, the Pathways Alliance, a coalition of the six largest oil sands companies, has a massive ad campaign plastering the message that they are on a path to so-called net-zero emissions all over streetcars, billboards and television ads — even during the Superbowl! The truth is, the plan they’re promoting doesn’t account for over 80% of their emissions.
Another example of greenwashing is BMO‘s recent hosting a conference on climate leadership in Montreal to try to give the impression that they are concerned about climate action, when in reality they invested $180 billion CAD in fossil fuels between 2016-2022.
Why do corporations do it?
Big corporations are looking for ways to optimize their profits. As public awareness grows around the importance of addressing the climate crisis, they need to seem environmentally responsible, to foster trust and loyalty in their clients.
Fossil fuel companies are professionals at greenwashing. They have been promoting decade-long campaigns of lies about the impact of fossil fuels on the climate to continue profiting, when science was clear and they knew about the damage. They want to convince people that it’s not necessary to stop using greenhouse-gas emitting fossil fuels. It’s about looking like they care so they can avoid taking meaningful climate action as long as they can.
In order to make people forget the climate impact of their industry’s activities, fossil fuel companies invest massively in communications touting their investment in renewable energy. They also heavily promote carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS), hydrogen and offsets which are unproven to reduce emissions as claimed and not ready at scale.
What action should they take?
Greenwashing is not only dishonest, it’s a tactic to delay essential climate action and fuels the environmental crisis we face. Greenwashing allows polluters to keep polluting.
The companies in the fossil fuel industry must implement strategies that are equivalent to their harmful actions on the environment in order to own up to the damage they are causing and take real action to minimize climate impacts.
Oil companies should be and could be leaders in shifting their business to a post carbon world. They must stop focusing on short-sighted public relations and profits and commit to being true actors in the clean energy transition.
Sources
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/wildfires-climate-change-carbon-88-1.6852178
https://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/story/58676/bmos-take-on-climate-greenwashing/
Add your voice to tell fossil fuel companies to pay up for the disasters they are fuelling.