Ellen covers how the energy industry uses PR, advertising, and lobbying to delay a just transition. She has exposed lobbying against fossil fuel advertising bans, and oil and gas-funded education programmes in communities facing the costs of extraction. Her reporting has featured in The Guardian, The Ecologist, and E24. Ellen was the Chartered Institute of Journalists’ Young Environmental Reporter of the Year in 2026, and a SEAL Environmental Journalist of the Year in 2024. She is based in Scotland. Contact her at elle [at] desmog.com or read more of her work here.
The groups have filed an OECD complaint against the worldโs largest advertising and PR firm, saying its work enables major polluters to continue harming environmental and human health.
Fossil fuel companies are spending millions on campaigns to deflect attention from the need to stop drilling for more oil and gas.
Disclosure by the French communications group underscores growing calls for climate accountability in the advertising and public relations industry.
Campaign groupโs newest report underlines the scope of the ad and PR sectorโs ongoing relationships with fossil fuel companies.
First attempt to quantify scale of โsportswashingโ likely to be an underestimate, authors warn.
Concerns over the โPowering Progressโ campaign reflect wider scrutiny of the role of creative agencies in climate delay.
The French communications giant had previously staked its brand on its climate-friendly credentials.
Wins in the category for agencies owned by WPP, Publicis Groupe, and Edelman didn't factor in the work these agencies do for the fossil fuel industry.
Antonio Guterres warns creative agencies that fossil fuels are "toxic for your brand.โ
Campaigners likened the fossil fuel companyโs patronage of climate events to letting an โarsonist sponsor a fire safety conferenceโ.
