Large oil corporations continue to pose a significant hurdle for the planet’s future. A recent assessment estimates that these companies allocate at least 750 million dollars annually to climate messaging while only a small portion, about 12 percent of their total investment, actually targets decarbonisation goals.
The analysis comes from a climate research think tank and presents an Impact Map that contrasts the spending on green advertising with the actions taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming.
The study, titled Big Oil’s Real Agenda 2022, examines more than 3,000 messages from the world’s five largest oil producers: British BP, Dutch Shell, French TotalEnergies, and American ExxonMobil and Chevron. Researchers reviewed traditional organic ads on print media, billboards, and corporate channels, as well as blogs, secondary websites, social networks, conversations, and press releases.
environmental commitments
The analysis found that 60 percent of messages from 2021 included references to environmental commitments. While the share varied by company, the authors note this reflects cultural differences in marketing strategies, with Europeans placing more emphasis on ecological issues.
Shell stood out as the firm with the most frequent environmental references in its communications, with about 70 percent of public messages containing at least one environmental point. By contrast, 49 percent of Chevron-initiated messages referenced environmental topics.
The researchers also tracked expenditures on green advertising, estimating about 750 million dollars per year devoted to climate marketing. They describe this as a conservative figure for the total resources dedicated to public relations and marketing on climate issues, noting that the figure does not involve any outside agency services.
They then compared this advertising spend to the expected allocation for low-carbon activities in 2022, which the authors describe as property investments representing only about 12 percent of total budgets, amounting to roughly 87,000 to 96,000 million dollars.
Further focus was placed on the gap between lobbying efforts by these multinational firms and the emphasis placed on clear climate communication. The research shows that all firms except TotalEnergies engaged directly with policymakers to advocate for policies that would support new oil and gas development in 2021-22.
On transparency, no company provided the data requested by the researchers to verify compliance with environmental commitments, according to an interview with Faye Holder, co-author of the report and the Impact Map team, who noted the information was unavailable for public access.
A case of greenwashing
The expert highlights that the gap between green marketing expenditures and decarbonisation investments signals a greenwashing pattern, though the term carries a legal definition that the authors avoid using. The practice is currently regulated in places such as the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Holder argues that while lawyers have often focused on advertising campaigns in consumer protection cases, the think tank warns about other misleading green promises that extend beyond traditional advertising.
“In the past, large oil companies used direct denial tactics to hinder climate action, but public sentiment has shifted. Messages now appear more subtle and nuanced,” Holder notes. This evolution marks the ongoing trend of using public communications to imply climate action while operations and pressure groups continue to delay real progress.
Full report: Influence Map, Big Oil’s Agenda on Climate Change 2022, published in 2022
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Environment department contact address: contact at influence map dot org