Please read the report below this article or download the report here.
Ever since scientists first started to show evidence that the climate was changing and the world was getting hotter, with human activity at the center of the problem, oil, and car companies have launched a fierce attack, questioning data, undermining evidence, and attacking the messenger. They haven’t stopped, they are just morphing into more subtle tactics, simply because they can’t deny the climate catastrophe anymore.
The strategic communications of fossil fuels, car and airline companies has played a key role in misleading, delaying and blocking the political action needed to tackle the climate crisis. So demonstrates a new Harvard University and Algorithmic Transparency Institute investigation commissioned by Greenpeace Netherlands, Three shades of green(washing), has tracked the social media activities of the largest car brands, airlines and oil and gas companies in Europe, revealing the shameless use of greenwashing and tokenism to leverage on the climate crisis.
The report is the most thorough assessment of recent greenwashing — misleading consumers by failing to accurately reflect the companies’ business and promoting false solutions — on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. The findings show that while Europe was experiencing its hottest summer on record, fossil fuel companies continued to overrepresent their green investments and made no mention of the climate crisis.
The fossil fuel companies do not limit themselves to using nature and green solutions imagery. The newest and subtlest greenwashing techniques combine images of women, kids, non-white and non-binary people with green innovation posts and images of experts to accompany their techno-optimism narratives.
The subtleties of these new forms of green- and wokewashing make them even more threatening than the old fashion strategies of climate denialism. They are the fossil fuels’ Trojan Horse: under innocent and well-intentioned representations, they hide death and destruction.
They play it smart, but we are smarter. Join the movement to #BanFossilAds in Europe and stop these destructive companies for good here ➡️ greenpeace.org/fossilfreerevolution