The title of the new report is Advertising climate chaos: How car and flight ads are fueling the climate emergency, It was also found that car and airline advertisements in Europe alone could have caused emissions of as much as 122 MtCO2e in 2019. This exceeds Belgium’s annual emissions in 2019.
Retrofit
Buy and drive a certain number of cars, and take flights, regardless of the ad. But advertising increases consumption by increasing demand, which is the focus of this report.
The new data uses publicly available information and standard emissions data from these industries. We assess the likely impact of advertising on driving consumer demand by looking at how much the industry spends on advertising and then making a series of estimates of the extent to which advertising might increase sales.
The figures use typical industry-wide values for this, as individual companies pay close attention to their “return on ad spend” figures. If these numbers are publicly available, more accurate conclusions can be drawn.
But even at the bottom or top of the estimated range, it’s clear that advertising is fanning the flames of global warming by promoting major polluters like the airline and auto industries, just as it once smoked people’s faces by selling cigarettes.
It’s also clear that the easiest way to start reducing carbon emissions — even before heavy home remodeling, diet changes, and transportation infrastructure changes — is to end excessive “lifestyle pollution” that can only be caused by advertising Consumption occurs due to push up.
tool
The disclosure of advertising impact comes at a time when Growing International Issues Ethics around promoting purchases that are still heavily reliant on fossil fuels during a severe climate emergency.
last month, more than 450 scientists call Major advertising and PR firms ditch fossil fuel clients, stop downplaying climate crisis.
In Europe, more than 30 organizations is supporting a wider Campaign to legally end fossil advertising And EU sponsorship, like the long-standing directive to ban tobacco sponsorship and advertising.
If the campaign collects 1 million verified signatures within a year, the European Commission is obliged to respond under a mechanism known as the European Citizenship Initiative.
at the local level Advertising campaign is supporting councils and community groups Introduce a low-carbon advertising policy and end advertisements promoting heavily polluting products and lifestyles.
As Georgia Whitaker, a leading campaigner for Greenpeace Europe’s Fossil-Free Revolution movement, put it, “advertising is a very powerful tool”.
emission
“This report shows that if we allow unrestricted advertising of high-carbon products, major polluters will succeed Social media, print and broadcast media channels and billboardsresulting in a significant increase in carbon emissions.
“Scientists have issued Code Red for humanity, and it is now critical to take the microphone away from an industry actively profiting from climate-damaging commodities.”
A comprehensive breakdown of the new figures for the auto and aviation sectors – both of which have systematically resisted faster pollution action – shows the potentially massive scale of the problem.
Globally, greenhouse gas emissions from car advertising may be as high as 572 million tons of carbon dioxide. This is 27 million tonnes higher than Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2019.
industry
Global car advertising causes lowest greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 191 tons CO2ewhich exceeded the annual emissions of the Netherlands in 2019.
Advertising-driven additional emissions from aviation are lower but still significant. GHG emissions from global airline advertising could be as high as 34 million tonnes of CO2 in 2019 – the same as burning 17 million tons of coal.
In EU flight advertisements alone, additional greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 could be as high as 9 million tonnes of CO2. This is equivalent to burning 4,510 tons of coal.
Global Air pollution on the rise Before the suspension caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, as the industry expanded.
tobacco
The pre-pandemic situation was the same: a Relentless Rise Emissions driven by the number of vehicles sold, as well as an advertising-driven shift to larger, more polluting SUVs, both outweigh any gains in vehicle efficiency.
This is a critical moment to stop promoting polluting transport as people like streets with fewer carsUrban areas are redesigned to provide more space for people, The popularity of bicycles And active travel is rising rapidly.
There is an opportunity for a broader shift towards safer, cleaner, more pleasant and less polluting travel, but the chance to acquire new habits and stick to them means stopping the siren call of advertising and returning them to bad old habits.
Now that we have numbers showing the magnitude of the problem, regulators have even more reason to act. We put an end to tobacco advertising to save lives, and it’s time to do the same with advertising from major climate polluters.
this author
Andrew Simms is New Meteorological Institutecoordinator Rapid Transition Coalition, author of several books on the New Economy and the Green Economy, and co-author of the original Green New Deal.he is on twitter @AndrewSimms_uk.
that report The advertising environment is chaotic Published jointly by Greenpeace Nordic and New Meteorological Institute. For more information on European Citizenship Initiative, Ban on Fossil Fuel Advertising and Sponsorship, Look www.banfossilfuelads.org.
