The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned Equinor [EQNR:NO], a Norwegian state-backed energy company, from exaggerating environmental claims, as reported by the Financial Times on December 22. The ASA contends that Equinor’s advertisements suggested a balanced role for wind farms, oil and gas, and carbon capture in its energy portfolio, despite the majority of revenue coming from oil and gas. Therefore, the regulator determined that these ads are likely to mislead the public by exaggerating the contribution of lower-carbon initiatives in Equinor’s overall business activities. In response, Equinor expressed disappointment but affirmed its respect for the ruling, pledging to consider the ruling for future advertising campaigns.

The ruling targeted Equinor’s ads in The Economist, Financial Times, and other prominent media, where the company claimed “wind, oil, gas, carbon capture and new jobs” were part of “the broader energy picture”. Moreover, the company also vowed to boost its renewable capacity tenfold by 2026, yet renewables are only planned to contribute 4% of its energy mix by then. Major fossil fuel producers like Equinor, ExxonMobil [XOM:US], and Shell [SHEL:LN] have used advertising to boast their contribution to the climate crisis, aiming to divert public attention from their unabated oil and gas investments. According to a Greenpeace report on 12 leading fossil fuel companies in Europe, a mere 0.3% of their combined energy production came from renewable power in 2022, with only 7.3% of their 2022 investments flowing to green energy.

Sources:

https://www.ft.com/content/9862ca82-c370-4ed6-9dce-d149230511a4

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/apr/19/a-great-deception-oil-giants-taken-to-task-over-greenwash-ads

https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/61420/greenwashing-garbage-europes-dirty-dozen-oil-gas-companies-produce-renewable-energy-despite-net-zero-pledges/