Public Relations Agencies Chastised for Greenwashing Big Oil

The public relations industry has a public relations issue. The role of public relations companies and advertising agencies in “greenwashing” fossil fuels has come under fire in recent months; allegedly communications firms were blocking climate action on behalf of their clients by disseminating falsehoods. Peer-reviewed research published in the journal Climatic Change late last year was the first to completely examine the role of public relations agencies in helping the world’s most profitable oil and gas companies boost their environmental image while blocking climate action.

It demonstrates that energy conglomerates have depended on public relations companies and advertising organizations; this has lasted for more than three decades to fine-tune their public messaging.

The authors, for example, point out how the public relations business has played a crucial role in downplaying the severity of the climate catastrophe, presenting corporate-favored solutions as the preferred course of action, and stressing the benefits of fossil fuel consumption.

World’s Major Oil Firms on Trial

Last year, lawmakers questioned oil and gas CEOs in a high-profile congressional hearing on climate denial. At the Oct. 28 hearing, executives from the world’s major oil firms defended themselves and their businesses’ behavior; it had parallels to the landmark 1994 hearing that led to Big Tobacco’s demise.

External groups have put pressure on PR and marketing companies to avoid obfuscating the likelihood of a climate emergency. However, some workers have expressed concern.

A statement signed by over 1,100 McKinsey workers last year strongly attacked the firm’s work with the world’s top polluters. In response, McKinsey stated that achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 will necessitate “working with high-emitting industries to assist them in their transition.”

Duncan Meisel, campaign director at Clean Creatives, a U.S.-based nonprofit attempting to separate the public relations business from the fossil fuel industry, told CNBC over the phone that it’s critical to know that most fossil fuel advertising isn’t trying to sell their product. Instead, they’re usually used to show how a corporation supports innovation or underlines renewable energy’s relevance in the transition.