Advertising can lead climate fight

The climate crisis has been a dark cloud on the horizon for some time now, but 2019 is the year the world’s political and business leaders at Davos officially put the issue at the top of their “worry list”.

And Prince William recently asked Sir David Attenborough the ultimate question: “Why has it taken so long for those in key positions of leadership . . . to act on environmental challenges?”

Let’s turn the question on ourselves: why are leaders in advertising taking so long to help brands resolve the climate crisis?

We have immense potential to go beyond lip service and make a real difference.

So why isn’t advertising stepping up to the plate?

Look at the impact of campaigns against stereotypes.

Marketers and advertisers use culturally relevant insights daily to create campaigns that make a difference.

If we applied the same skills and passion to the climate crisis, we could replicate the impact of campaigns

against stereotypes.

Many brands and agencies should be applauded for trying to tackle climate change.

And many of us are taking steps to reduce our personal impact on the environment.

But people are wising up to greenwashing and often feel cynical when a brand shouts about its environmental credentials.

There’s also a misconception that doing your bit means jumping on the bandwagon or that brands investing in eco-campaigns are all talk and no action.

And it’s true: for every legitimate brand initiative, there’s an empty one. So we need to do more. But how?

Environmental economist Pavan Sukhdev, in his book Corporation 2020, makes a compelling case for “responsible advertising”: a traffic-light system that highlights how long a product will last, where its materials come from and whether it can be recycled.

This would enable consumers to easily make buying decisions based on a brand’s ethical creds, meaning market forces would push advertisers into cleaning up their supply chains and operations.

That would have more impact than using marketing to start or support a debate.

And for an industry that’s so obsessed with reaching the fabled millennials and Gen Z, responsible advertising taps into their demand for brands with purpose.

If you need any more proof that the climate crisis is top of mind for the younger generation, look no further than 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg.