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- The Clean Creatives South Africa campaign seeks to get ad and public relations firms to stop doing business with fossil fuel companies.
- So far, there are 17 signatories that have pledged to decline future contracts with fossil fuel companies, trade associations and front groups.
- The local movement is inspired by Clean Creatives in the US, supported by 900 creatives and 295 agencies.
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A campaign to get advertisers and the public relations industry to stop doing business with fossil fuel companies is slowly gaining momentum.
Clean Creatives South Africa, inspired by the US movement, is raising awareness among ad agencies and public relations companies about the climate breakdown caused by fossil fuel companies.
The burning of fossil fuels like coal, gas and oil releases greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, which causes rising global temperatures – a driver of climate change. Already extreme weather events brought about by the climate crisis are being experienced. Heavy rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal in April was made worse because of climate change, research shows.
The campaign wants agencies to decline future contracts with fossil fuel companies, trade associations and front groups. So far, 17 signatories have pledged not to work with fossil fuel industry players. By comparison, Clean Creatives US has garnered support from 900 creatives and 295 agencies.
Stephen Horn, South Africa country director for Clean Creatives, who started working on the domestic campaign since last year, highlighted that the sustainability pledges of agencies could be completely undermined if they continue to have fossil fuel companies as clients. "One campaign for a fossil fuel client can undo all of an agency's sustainability gains," said Horn.
Educating these firms about the risks is a priority. "Ultimately, they will end up in a situation where reputational risk is great," said Horn. In the US, for example, firms are being sued for misrepresenting climate change to the public.
There is also an added risk of these agencies losing talent, as graduates would not want to work with industries that do not align with their values. Furthermore, failing to address climate change means more natural disasters will cause far worse economic damage.
Clean Creatives is developing a database of South African companies that PR firms and ad agencies would not do business with if they signed the pledge. Exclusions are based on the companies' inactions when it comes to responding to the climate crisis, such as not being aligned with the Paris Agreement to limit global temperatures rising beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius and for continuing exploration of fossil fuels. Based on this criteria, quite a few big companies would be excluded, added Horn.
In South Africa, communities have launched court processes against energy company Shell and geoscience data company Searcher Seismic to block exploration off the South African coast.
READ | UCT gives green light to ditch fossil fuels
Horn does not expect agencies to shed their fossil fuel clients overnight, but the campaign serves as a starting point to have conversations about the role of agencies when it comes to climate action. The short-term goal is to raise awareness of the climate emergency and get more people to sign the pledge. This includes education initiatives at marketing learning institutions so that the students that will one day work in these agencies understand the importance of not misleading the public about the climate crisis.
Clean Creatives South Africa recently secured funding from a European climate-focused foundation and has received donations that it will be used for activities such as hosting educational webinars. The first in-person event will be held on 12 July, at Alliance Française du Cap in Cape Town, said Horn.
Clean Creatives is supported by Fossil Free South Africa – an organisation that successfully led the campaign to get UCT to divest from fossil fuels.
