Climate reporting deluged by high carbon adverts

The top British papers will do more to promote polluting products and lifestyles during this year’s international climate talks, COP30 in Belém, Brazil, starting on 10 November, if they repeat what they did last year according to a new analysis of coverage of the previous talks, COP29 in 2024.

The research revealed that British national newspapers overall dedicated more space to advertising high carbon travel (1,745 column inches) than reporting the climate talks at COP29 (1,540 ins) on the key dates at the beginning and end of the event. The total amount of ‘high carbon advertising’ amounted to 5,086 ins, more than three times the space given to coverage of the climate conference.

The research Promoting Pollution Before Reporting The Climate was commissioned by the New Weather Institute for the Badvertising campaign which is calling for tobacco style controls on adverts that promote fossil fuel pollution — such as ads for oil companies, airlines and fossil fuel powered car makers. 

Dirty

The campaign is calling on newspaper proprietors and editors to follow the lead of an increasing number of cities that are ending such adverts on sites they control, and to heed the words of UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres who has called for an end to fossil fuel advertising.

Andrew Simms, a co-director of the New Weather Institute and a founder of the Badvertising campaign, said: “The science tells us that we must do everything possible to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown, but instead of discouraging climate pollution it is being actively promoted wherever you look, in ads for flights and big SUVs. Many climate challenges are hard, like changing energy systems and buildings, but it is easy to stop actively pushing high carbon, often luxury products and lifestyles. 

“Fossil fuels are like the new tobacco and we need to stop promoting them. Without action, the signal from scientists will be drowned out in the marketing noise from oil companies, airlines, and SUV makers trying to persuade us to consume as many high carbon goods and services as possible.”

The national print newspapers in the UK carried 19,379 ins of advertising during the two most important days of the COP29 conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, last year, and 32.6 per cent of paid adverts were for companies selling or investing in high carbon products and services.

The call to ban advertising from the Badvertising campaign comes almost 18 months after António Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, proposed media companies should stop promoting dirty energy. 

Reporting

He said back in June 2024: “I urge every country to ban advertising from fossil fuel companies. And I urge news media and tech companies to stop taking fossil fuel advertising.”