Health organisations should cut ties with advertising agencies that work for the fossil fuel industry to protest the role of greenwashing in delaying climate action, says a group of mental health advocates.
In an open letter, a dozen researchers and clinicians warned of the growing toll of despair suffered by displaced families, the disorientation and grief communities face after floods, drought and wildfires, and the anxiety of children facing a worsening climate crisis.
“Advertising and public relations firms that serve both the health sector and the fossil fuel industry are working at cross purposes. On one hand, they help promote products, services, and messages that are meant to support healing. On the other hand, they help greenwash an industry that is accelerating a global health emergency,” the letter said.
“We, as mental health professionals and advocates, urge you to review your relationships with PR and ad firms. Ask them where they stand. And be prepared to walk away from those who continue to work with fossil fuel clients,” the letter said.
The dozen signatories included Omnia El Omrani, vice-chair of the Global Climate and Health Alliance, a consortium of more than 200 organisations; Britt Wray, director of CIRCLE at Stanford Psychiatry, an initiative focused on community resilience; and Professor Fiona Charlson of the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has urged governments to ban fossil fuel advertising and called on advertising and PR firms to stop working for the industry — echoing calls from various climate groups concerned about the role of the communications industry in preserving the oil industry’s social license.
In 2022, Sydney banned coal, oil and gas advertising after health professionals signed an open letter.
France was the first country to ban fossil fuel ads in 2022, while in 2024 the Hague in the Netherlands became the first city in the world to pass a law banning all fossil fuel advertising, including ads for services with a high carbon footprint such as airlines and SUVs. Amsterdam and Edinburgh have enacted similar restrictions.
For more of DeSmog’s coverage of climate accountability in the advertising and public relations industry, please visit our series page, and our database profiling communications agencies working for major polluters.
