Houston Chronicle

U.K. watchdog: Shell’s clean energy campaign misleading

- By Ed Davey

LONDON — A marketing campaign by oil major Shell has been banned by the U.K.’s advertisin­g watchdog Wednesday for implying a big proportion of its business was in low carbon energy even though fossil fuels make up the “vast majority” of its operations.

A television commercial, a YouTube video and a poster campaign in Bristol, England, variously described providing large numbers of British homes with 100 percent renewable energy, installing electric vehicle charging points and driving the energy transition.

In its written ruling the Advertisin­g Standards Authority found consumers would interpret the marketing materials as making a “broader claim about Shell as a whole providing cleaner energy.”

Although Shell does have a clean energy business, the company estimates its operations released almost 1.4 billion tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in 2021.

In a statement, Shell spokespers­on Tara Lemay said the company “strongly” disagrees with the ASA’s decision, “which could slow the U.K.’s drive toward renewable energy.”

Campaign group Adfree Cities had filed a complaint to the ASA about the commercial­s, arguing they left out significan­t informatio­n about Shell’s overall environmen­tal impact.

It also argued the claim that 78,000 homes in the southwest of England and 1.4 million homes across the U.K. use 100 percent clean energy from Shell was misleading.

The ASA’s ruling said the campaign gave the impression that “low-carbon energy products comprised a significan­t proportion of the energy products Shell invested in and sold in the UK in 2022, or were likely to do so in the near future.”

It also found Shell had proven its claims to provide 100 percent renewable power to many British homes, and that part of the complaint was not upheld.

The watchdog ordered Shell not to run the campaign again in its current form.

Adfree Cities campaigner Veronica Wignall, who led the complaint, said the ruling “marks the end of the line for fossil fuel greenwashi­ng in the U.K.,” but added that the ruling “doesn’t go far enough.”

She called for robust legislatio­n to stop fossil fuel advertisin­g.

But Shell’s Lemay argued that “people are already well aware that Shell produces the oil and gas they depend on today.”

Lemay cited a survey of 1,700 British adults that found 83 percent associated the company with gas stations.

“What many people don’t know is we’re also investing heavily in low and zero-carbon energy,” she said. “That is what our adverts set out to show, and that is why we’re concerned by this decision.”

Shell previously faced claims of greenwashi­ng in promotiona­l materials. In 2021, the Dutch advertisin­g watchdog told the company to stop running a campaign saying its fuel was carbon neutral, a claim based on its offset program.

Associated Press climate and environmen­tal coverage receives support from several private foundation­s. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsibl­e for all content.

 ?? Frank Augstein/Associated Press file photo ?? A marketing campaign by Shell was banned by a U.K. watchdog Wednesday for implying a large part of its business was in low carbon energy.
Frank Augstein/Associated Press file photo A marketing campaign by Shell was banned by a U.K. watchdog Wednesday for implying a large part of its business was in low carbon energy.

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