Fossil fuel advertising to get same treatment as tobacco and gambling in Greens policy plan

Fossil fuel producers would be treated the same as tobacco, asbestos and gambling advertisers under a suite of Greens proposals to tackle greenwashing and limit the influence of oil, gas and coal companies.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said banning greenwashing is necessary to set a “benchmark” about what is acceptable as consumers were increasingly demanding greener products and more action on climate change.

“Oil, gas and coal companies don’t want us to imagine a world where their products don’t exist. That world is something a lot of people want,” she said.

“This suite of policies and actions are all designed to prevent the fossil fuel industry from being able to buy their social licence and to perpetuate a myth that their products can continue to be used into the future without a cost to the community or the environment.

“The consumers want greener products and greenwashing is these corporations trying to find a cheater’s way out.”

Under the Greens proposal, consumer and corporate codes would be amended to make greenwashing illegal by standardising definitions of commonly used environmental terms and providing clear requirements for businesses to make environmental claims.

The party also wants to create a system for independent verification and certification of these claims, and impose penalties for those who do not comply.

Additional proposals would extend tobacco advertising and sponsorship bans to cover fossil fuel companies, create a $275m fund to help clean energy companies replace oil, gas and coal producers as sponsors, and require emissions disclosure labels on car, plane and petrol station advertisements.

Senator Hanson-Young, who chaired a federal senate inquiry into greenwashing, said the goal was to create a level playing field for companies “doing the right thing.”

“The companies doing the right thing, even if they’re not all the way there, they’re trying hard to transition,” she said. “They might not want to crow about it, but those doing the right thing are being undermined every single day by brands that get to lie about the things they’re not doing.”

The Greens proposal has been welcomed by climate advocacy group Comms Declare’s Belinda Noble who described the suite of policies as “just the kind of sensible, holistic approach we need to tackle climate change”.

“The IPCC recognised that fossil fuel companies have unique access to Australian media and politicians, and I don’t see how we can move our whole economy towards renewables while allowing that situation to continue unchallenged.

“The proposal for emissions disclosure labels would bring us closer to many European countries, which could benefit trade.”

Noble said the proposal for a fund to replace fossil fuel projects is similar to Western Australia’s Healthway program, that replaced smoking sponsorships with health messages.

“I hope other political parties adopt these measures to help clean energy businesses to win hearts and minds and put fossil fuels in the past where they belong,” Noble said.

The International Panel on Climate Change has previously singled out Australia as an example of a country where the influence of fossil fuel producers has been effective in shaping how public discussions about climate change take place.

“Who dominates the debate in media, and how open the debate can be varies significantly across countries based on participants’ material and technological power,” it said.

“Fossil fuel companies have unique access to mainstream media via advertisements, shaping narratives of media reports, and exerting political influence in countries like Australia and the US.”

On Tuesday the Australian Press Council held that a series of articles published by News Corp in December last year to promote gas and warn of coming blackouts, was not greenwashing, but was also not good journalistic practice.

The stories, which carried headlines such as “Dark Ages” and “Step on the Gas”, caused outrage at the time but were not unprecedented, as Australian fossil fuel producers have often gone to extreme lengths to secure friendly media coverage.

The Australian Financial Review published a 28-page supplement to promote gas in its March 20, 1967 issue just as the industry was working to get into Australian homes and businesses. The supplement made up two thirds of the paper and was penned by anonymous “Financial Review staff”.