Online survey: Public investigation into misleading eco-friendly claims
The Competition Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into products and services that are marketed as “eco-friendly” in order to find out about whether people are being misled by the brands’ claims. The CMA is an independent UK government authority responsible for ensuring fair competition between businesses and tackling any anti-competitive activities where a company might undercut another.
The questionnaire is directed at consumers, businesses and stakeholders. It comprises a series of multiple choice questions and two open-ended questions, asking about what the CMA should be doing and if there are any eco-friendly marketing about products, services or sectors that people do not trust. Make sure to fill in the open consultation, which closes on December 14th 2020. Below, we review some of the greatest high-carbon sectors’ most controversial environmental advertising claims.
What is Badvertising’s view?
At Badvertising, we believe that advertising for high-carbon services and products is incompatible with moving towards a low-carbon society and that high-carbon ads in the public remit should be banned. We propose that these adverts should display 'Climate Health Warnings' (similar to tobacco packaging) as an interim measure so that consumers are fully aware of the harms caused by fossil fuel company adverts. These ideas were discussed in the British Medical Journal recently and also by the legal firm Client Earth. In particular there are mainly three sectors - cars, aviation and fossil fuels - for which we think their advertising is especially problematic and misleading in contrast with the products and activities promoted by those sectors that are exacerbating climate breakdown.
Carmakers: “clean SUVs” driving across wild spaces
Despite new European regulations in place limiting emissions from vehicles at 95g Co2/km, carmakers are still advertising for their most polluting SUVs as in recent ads reported on the Badvertising website here and here. These adverts often display cars in wild, natural landscapes which is far from the realities of traffic congestion and lethal urban pollution in which most SUVs are found. Our own research found that over 150,000 new cars sold in the UK in 2019 were physically too large to fit in a standard UK parking space. That means they’re taking up even more of the limited urban space left for people to safely socialise, relax, and exercise.
Another misleading tactic from car manufacturers is to praise the merits of their “self-charging” hybrid vehicles, which is particularly misleading as it obscures the proportion of time/miles a car runs on fossil fuel in comparison to how much it uses its electric battery. Having full trust in car companies’ claims about their eco-credentials is difficult given how many corporate scandals they have been embroiled in - such as Volkswagen’s role in deliberately cheating emissions tests. This is in addition to successful lobbying to undermine climate science and to oppose progressive environmental regulations.
Airlines: the myth of green biofuels and carbon offsetting
Airline companies’ eco-friendly adverts are all about the promotion of so-called green biofuels or carbon offsetting programs. The Dutch airline KLM was recently caught by the Advertising Authority for its misleading advert about biofuels. Despite advertising about its biofuel program with the promise to carbon emissions up to 80% , it was revealed that for the year 2019 the company used less than 1% biofuels in its fleet. The advertising regulatory body found those allegations misleading and recommended - in a non-binding ruling - that the percentage of biofuels used be clearly specified in the advert. Ryan Air, on the other hand was forced to take its advertisement down following a decision from the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ad which claimed to be Europe’s lowest emissions airlines was not only deemed to be greenwashing but also included incorrect carbon emissions calculations. Other greenwashing claims made by airline companies include offsetting programs offered to travellers with promises to compensate the carbon emissions via tree-planting projects. These projects, whose transparency and actual efficacy have been criticised on various grounds, give those companies a “get out of jail free card” when we know that emissions from flights must be drastically reduced over the next decade.
Fossil fuel companies: green investments claims VS the reality
Fossil fuel firm’s adverts possibly contain the most fallacious green claims. Over the last years, the industry has strived to portray itself as a global player in the green investment transition. Many of its adverts feature solar farms and windmills while pledging to be pioneers in the renewable energy sector. In reality, most fossil fuel companies allocate a fraction of their portfolios towards green energy while the major part of their investment backs up the further extraction and burning of fossil fuels. For instance, it was revealed that BP’s overall renewables’ investment was a mere 4% whereas the remaining 96% were into fossil fuels. Other research found that for the year 2018, only 1% of major oil and gas companies’ budget was invested in green energy.