Plus, whistleblowers warn ad industry fueling hate, climate crisis...
From the Editor's Desk
For decades, ExxonMobil argued that consumers, not oil giants, should take responsibility for fossil fuel pollution. Now, the oil major has joined the new Carbon Measures coalition — a group of 23 member companies including finance, energy, and industry heavyweights — in an effort to reshape global climate accounting standards. Under the Exxon-backed system, polluters’ liabilities would flow from the top down to consumers.
Sound familiar?
Sharon Kelly dove into historical documents from Exxon and its affiliates, ranging from the 1960s to 2020s. She uncovered a consistent narrative pushing for polluters to avoid responsibility. “Pollution is everybody’s business, because essentially all of it results from the activities of men working to satisfy the needs and desires of men," reads a 1970 report by Imperial Oil, Exxon’s Canadian affiliate.
Meanwhile, the largest U.S. oil and gas lobbying group, the American Petroleum Institute (API), targeted the European Union’s climate regulations among its leading policy goals for this year, according to a recent memo.
API said it wanted to guarantee that laws outside the U.S. “do not disadvantage U.S. producers.” It name-dropped two key laws: the EU Methane Regulation and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), a landmark law designed to induce major corporations to reduce emissions to deal with the harmful environmental and human rights impacts of their businesses.
In a story co-published with ExxonKnews, Emily Sanders writes that this policy push comes as EU leaders navigate fraught trade negotiations and pressures between the continent and a fossil fuel-friendly — and unpredictable — Trump administration. Read the full story.
Though the oil industry might feel fine about watering down climate laws, the people selling that message to the public increasingly feel uncomfortable, according to an anonymous memo written by at least 15 top advertising executives.
“We know our industry is funding hate, legitimising environmental destructive companies, and working at the frontline of a US-led rollback on diversity, equity and inclusion” (known as DEI), they said in the memo, while “paying little more than lip service to solving critical issues” that include “spreading hateful content” and “helping polluting industries such as oil and gas rebuff public scrutiny.”
TJ Jordan reports that these insiders are calling for a moment of reckoning with the ad and PR industry’s major power brokers. He explains that “the memo’s release comes at a time of unprecedented turbulence for the global advertising industry.” Get the full story.
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Global Managing Editor
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Image: Excerpt from the 1970 report, "Pollution Is Everybody's Business," by Imperial Oil, Exxon's Canadian subsidiary
Top U.S. Oil Lobby API Targets Landmark EU Climate Law, Policy Document Shows
— By Emily Sanders (7 min. read) —
The declaration coincides with U.S. fossil fuel companies’ use of Trump’s trade tensions and international discord to undermine EU climate laws.
After Decades of Deflection, ExxonMobil Moves to Reshape Global Climate Accounting
— By Sharon Kelly (9 min. read) —
For decades, ExxonMobil argued consumers, not oil giants, should take responsibility for fossil fuel pollution. It’s now backing Carbon Measures’ accounting scheme, which moves pollution “liabilities” to buyers’ books.
Whistleblowers Warn That Ad Industry Is Fuelling Online Hatred and Climate Crisis
— By TJ Jordan (6 min. read) —
Anonymous group of senior executives say major ad agencies are “enabling harm rather than doing good.”
Amsterdam Defies Last-Minute Lobbying to Become First Capital City to Ban Fossil Fuel Ads
— Ellen Ormesher (4 min. read) —
The world’s largest outdoor advertising company warned city councillors of “far-reaching consequences” hours before the landmark vote.
Nigel Farage Racks Up £151,000 in Donor-Funded Flights to Support Donald Trump
—By Sam Bright (3 min. read) —
The Reform leader has been jetting around the world to promote Trump’s climate denial agenda.
From the Climate Disinformation Database: Next 15 Group
Next 15 Group is a UK-headquartered business growth consultancy and advertising company. It has serviced at least 11 clients with fossil fuel interests, including RWE, Shell, British Gas, SGN, and the International Council on Mining and Metals, and has worked for clients in other polluting sectors, for example, aviation and agrochemicals. Next 15 Group has also worked with major meat and dairy industry players such as the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, Lactalis, Danone, and Arla Retail. It has also worked for the renewables sector and environmental and animal rights organizations. Next 15 Group says that its goal is to “Make sure we leave the world a better place than we found it,” and that “For Next 15, sustainability is a cornerstone of our business strategy. We recognise its vital role in achieving lasting success and creating a positive impact on society and the environment.” Next 15 has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. However, in 2025, Next 15 estimated its Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions at 55,740.7 tCO₂e—more than double its 2020 baseline of 26,410.9 tCO₂e.”
Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database, Ad & PR Database, and Koch Network Database.
