UN Secretary-General Tells Agencies to Drop Fossil Fuel Clients

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today condemned the advertising industry for greenwashing, demanding that agencies drop fossil fuel clients and calling for a ban on fossil fuel advertising.

In a speech at the American Museum of Natural History for World Environment Day, Guterres used characteristically visceral language to drive home the need for immediate action to keep warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a goal which he said is “hanging by a thread.”

Guterres called on governments and business leaders to curb fossil fuels, and, for the first time, spoke directly to ad industry leaders about their role in the climate crisis.

“Many in the fossil fuel industry have shamelessly greenwashed even as they have sought to delay climate action with lobbying, legal threats and massive ad campaigns,” Guterres said. “I call on these companies to stop acting as enablers of planetary destruction. Stop taking on new fossil fuel clients from today and set out plans to drop your existing ones. Fossil fuels are not only poisoning our planet, they are toxic for your brands.”

Guterres’ comments follow years of activism targeting the ad industry for its role in the climate crisis.

Groups like Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace, Creatives for Climate and Clean Creatives have been protesting agencies’ relationship with fossil fuels for years, with major demonstrations at the Cannes Lions festival since 2019, which is kicking off in less than two weeks.

“Guterres’ call for the advertising and PR agencies to cut ties with fossil fuel polluters is historic,” Duncan Meisel, executive director for Clean Creatives, said in a statement. “Today is a turning point in the advertising and PR industry’s relationship with climate change and fossil fuels—there is no longer any cover for agencies to say that they are doing the right thing when working with polluters. Everyone knows this is wrong, and everyone needs to act.”

Over 1,100 advertising and public relations firms have signed Clean Creatives’ pledge to refuse work with fossil fuel companies since the campaign launched in 2020.

Still, all major advertising holding companies have ongoing relationships with oil majors including Exxon, Shell, Saudi Aramco and Chevron, as outlined in the group’s annual F-List report.

“Those who hoped that greenhushing and woke backlash might move the spotlight away from advertising’s impact on the climate will be sorely disappointed,” Solitaire Townsend, co-founder and chief solutionist of sustainability-focused agency Futerra, said. “There are rapidly building concerns from activists, media exposés on the industry, and, bluntly, the public isn’t going to rally in defense of agencies or fossil fuel advertisers. The arc of what’s next is obvious: fossil fuel campaigns will follow tobacco advertising into oblivion.”