MP Cites DeSmog Reporting to Bolster Call for Ban on Fossil Fuel Advertising

Labour’s Jacob Collier warns parliamentary debate of “coordinated strategy” by oil companies to delay climate action.
Ellen Ormesher
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MPs debate whether to ban fossil fuel advertising. Credit: UK Parliament

Labour MP Jacob Collier cited DeSmog investigations into the strategies used by oil and gas companies to delay climate action in opening remarks to a parliamentary debate on whether the UK government should ban fossil fuel advertising.

A petition calling for a ban signed by more than 110,000 people and championed by environmentalist Chris Packham triggered Monday’s debate.

โ€œWhile all speech may be free, speech is not without consequence, and fossil fuel advertising is not just a matter of a few billboards here and there, it is increasingly a coordinated strategy to build trust, shape culture and delay structural change,โ€ Collier told parliament.

โ€œFossil fuel companies, as uncovered in the internal BP advertising memos, seek to reinforce their social license and influence consumer behaviour by associating themselves with progress, positivity and public good.โ€

DeSmog published a review of internal BP documents in May that showed how the company viewed sponsorships as central to its strategy to allay public concerns over its role in the climate crisis while simultaneously lobbying against policies aimed at tackling it.

Collier also referred to a DeSmog investigation published in July last year that revealed oil and gas companies had run hundreds of advertising campaigns on London public transport since Mayor Sadiq Khanโ€™s 2018 “zero carbon city” pledge, as well as research by Badvertising and the New Weather Institute.

“Fossil fuel ads appear in Westminster station, for example, not because consumers need urgent advice about offshore drilling, but because that’s where we the policymakers walk,” Collier said.

Speaking in favour of a ban, Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party and MP for Bristol Central, drew a parallel with now widely accepted public health measures such as compulsory seatbelts, and bans on tabacco advertising and smoking in confined spaces.

“Social and regulatory change like this often creates an uproar when it’s first proposed, only for it to be accepted as extremely obvious and the previous status quo seemingly appalling,” Denyer said.

Andrew Bowie, a Conservative MP representing a constituency in northeast Scotland, said a blanket ban on fossil fuel advertising would be “neither proportionate nor necessary when robust oversight is already in place.”

“I’m afraid that the ban advocated by this position would be purely ideological,” said Bowie, who also serves as the shadow minister for energy security and net zero. “It would damage investor confidence, and it would be counterproductive in reducing carbon emissions. And I’m proud to see BP, Shell, Total, Equinor and the rest, investing in music, art, culture, education, sport across the UK.”

DeSmog reported at the weekend that Equinor, a Norwegian oil company, is investing more than ยฃ200,000 to support mobile science classrooms on the Shetland Islands, the nearest communities to its proposed Rosebank oilfield project in the North Sea. The initiative forms part of a range of educational sponsorships Equinor has pursued in the UK, including EnergyTown, a computer game aimed at schoolchildren.

This story was updated at 19:09 BST on Juy 7 2025.

Ellen Ormesher
Ellen is a reporter with interests across climate, culture, and industry. She was previously a senior reporter covering sustainability at The Drum. Her work has also been featured in The Guardian.

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