'Shifting Views' - New Weather Sweden
Our ‘Shifting Views’ series introduces the work of some key actors in the global movement to end harmful advertising & sponsorship.
- Who are you?
We, Anna Jonsson and Gunnar Lind, have just set up the organisation New Weather Sweden. Our aim is to expand the policy game-plan, move the ‘Overton window’ (what’s politically acceptable) in the Swedish environmental policy debate. Our background is in environmental politics as well as environmental NGOs. Now we are eager to make a difference in the Swedish debate and we just started off with the ‘badvertising’ campaign.
Anna Jonsson
Gunnar Lind
- What are you campaigning for/against?
When advertising aims to preserve or reinforce a phenomenon that threatens human civilization and the planet's ecosystem, it is unacceptable. It makes us all losers - it's bad advertising. Once we know what damage is caused by fossil fuels, long flights and fossil-fueled cars, it's time to stop marketing them. Our overall message is therefore that politicians, businesses and media companies must say no to advertising for products that destroy the climate.
The Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter has adopted an advertising policy that will prevent prominent advertising for petrol-powered cars and long-haul flights. In Stockholm, discussions are taking place about banning fossil advertising on the city's billboards. These are good initiatives, but above all politicians need to take further action.
- What is your most recent work?
We recently published a report “Cars that fry the planet” (“Bilar som steker planeten”, in which we focus on plug-in hybrids, cars that have a combustion engine but are deceptively described as electric and climate-friendly in adverts. In what appears to be a deliberate greenwash strategy, the boundary between fossil cars and electric cars is now being blurred. We are made to believe that a plug-in hybrid is a kind of electric car and that all “rechargeable” cars are electric cars. We have also highlighted these issues in an opinion article in Dagens Nyheter, the largest morning paper in Sweden, where we raise the issue of greenwash as well as the need for an end of the combustion engine, together with Greenpeace Sweden.
- What are your future plans?
What we have achieved now is to raise the issue of ‘badvertising’ and greenwash in the Swedish public debate around a specific focus; plug-in hybrids. Now we see that it is time to problematise the issue of ‘badvertising’ from a broader perspective. Therefore we are planning to do a report that has a wider perspective as a next step. We are also planning to announce more companies to Swedish authorities for greenwash and deceptive advertising. We have already challenged Jeep for their advertising of the “ecological car” and we noticed that they have already removed those words from that specific advert...
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Extract from the opinion article in Dagens Nyheter (in collaboration with Greenpeace Sweden):
In Sweden, there is no target for electric cars and no ban on cars that run on petrol or diesel. Maybe it has to do with the government's close relationship with the Swedish automotive industry ?
Huge public subsidies for plug-in hybrids hinders the shift to electric cars. Last year, the Swedish state paid out about 100 million Euro in support for cars that emit more carbon dioxide than the average of new cars in the EU. In order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve air quality in cities, a dozen countries in Europe have decided to ban or otherwise completely phase out the sale of all cars with internal combustion engines.
The report “Cars That Fry the Planet'' presents recent studies from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) and Transport & Environment (T&E) which clearly show that the most popular plug-in hybrids have almost as large emissions of carbon dioxide as ordinary petrol and diesel cars.
Caption: TV ad for Volvo V60
A Volvo V60, Sweden's most popular plug-in hybrid last year, actually emits 122 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer. That is well above the average for new cars in the EU, 95 grams, and more than a regular petrol-powered Toyota Corolla without charging technology. In 2020, the Swedish Transport Agency paid out 100 million Euro in bonuses to the ten models tested by ICCT. If real emission figures had been used, most of these models would have required their owners to pay higher taxes.
The government must immediately reform the tax incentive system so that charging hybrids are completely excluded. To speed up the phasing out, a ban on advertising for fossil cars and in particular the aggressive marketing of plug-in hybrids is also needed. Once a car has entered the car fleet, it has a lifespan of 15-20 years. Adjustment therefore needs to be made here and now.