Edelman has released the results of its global client review in a Friday night blog post.
The review came after Edelman was named in the F-list by Comms Declare and Clean Creatives, plus a letter from more than 100 creators and influencers asking the PR firm to drop fossil fuel clients.
Edelman has made no commitment to drop any clients as a result of the global review, that include ExxonMobil, The American Petroleum Institute and Shell.
In Australia, Edelman works with Shell (Viva Energy), which claims to support the Paris Agreement. However, Viva is constructing a new LNG plant at Geelong and only includes emissions from some of its own operations (Scope 1 and 2) in its net zero goals – not the emissions from its petroleum or gas products.
As such, it is not in line with the Paris goals it purports to support.
Quotes from Belinda Noble, Founder, Comms Declare
“As you might expect from the world’s largest PR firm, Edelman’s announcement makes all the right noises but fails on concrete, measurable actions.”
“We need to cut greenhouse gas emissions by around 60% in eight years to have a chance to stay under 1.5 degrees warming. The time for discussions with coal, oil and gas corporations that are expanding operations or making hollow net zero promises, is over.”
“If Edelman continues to represent companies like ExxonMobil and Viva Energy, it will only further entrench itself as the world’s largest apologist for the fossil fuel sector.”
