Comms Declare’s submission to the UNFCCC Culture Global Stocktake for Climate Action
A.1. Outcomes of the First Global Stocktake
Advertising is a powerful force in shaping culture. It influences what people see as normal, desirable and acceptable in everyday life.
Fossil fuel advertising promotes and normalises products and industries that drive climate change and harm human and planetary health. By constantly reinforcing fossil fuel use as a normal part of life, it increases demand, raises emissions and makes behavioural and policy change more difficult.
It also strengthens the social licence of fossil fuel companies, helping them maintain influence over public debate and policymaking.
While positive sustainability messages are important, they cannot compete with the vast marketing budgets of fossil fuel industries. As long as fossil fuel advertising dominates our information environment, it will continue to shape social norms and undermine climate action.
The solution is simple, affordable, legally achievable and supported by evidence: ban fossil fuel advertising and sponsorships, just as many did with tobacco.
A.2. Context and Cross-Cutting Considerations
Air travel and cruise holidays are among the most carbon-intensive forms of consumption, yet they are used by only a relatively wealthy minority of the world’s population. Their promotion therefore deepens climate injustice, with the environmental costs borne disproportionately by communities that contribute least to the problem.
Coal, oil and gas companies also have a long history of exploiting vulnerable communities. Around the world, fossil fuel projects have been associated with impacts on Indigenous and Traditional Owner lands, threats to cultural heritage, and disproportionate health and environmental burdens on low-income communities. Children are particularly vulnerable to marketing messages, especially those that come under the guise of fossil fuel-sponsored education programs.
A ban on fossil fuel advertising is consistent with the protection of human rights. It has been supported by multiple United Nations bodies, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council and the Secretary-General. In 2025, UN Special Rapporteurs argued that fossil fuel advertising bans are necessary to protect the rights to life, health and a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, drawing clear parallels with the delayed regulation of tobacco advertising.
Recent developments in international law, including the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion and relevant United Nations resolutions, reinforce the obligation of governments to take meaningful action to reduce both the supply and demand for fossil fuels. Restricting fossil fuel advertising is a practical and proportionate measure that supports these obligations while helping to accelerate the transition to a safer and healthier future.
Collective Progress Toward the Paris Agreement’s Long-Term Goals
B.1. Mitigation
The role of culture, creative industries, and cultural practices in emissions reduction and systemic planet-wide transformation.
Including commitments for a fossil fuel phase-out aligned with “(d) Transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner”
The influence industries of marketing and PR can contribute to mitigation by promoting low carbon lifestyles, but this is not enough to create the massive behaviour change required to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. Drawing on the successful model of tobacco and junk food advertising restrictions, the IPCC and numerous researchers have identified advertising bans as an effective way to reduce demand, shift social norms and build public support for stronger climate policies.
Studies have found that climate policy is undermined when governments allow continued promotion of fossil fuel products. By reducing the visibility and social acceptability of high-emissions goods and services, advertising bans can encourage behavioural change and stimulate innovation in cleaner alternatives.
Legal experts, courts and United Nations bodies have concluded that fossil fuel advertising bans are compatible with human rights protections. The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has called for a global ban, a position echoed by health professionals concerned about the impacts of fossil fuels on climate, air quality and public health.
Research also suggests that fossil fuel advertising bans enjoy broad public support and are among the easiest climate measures for governments to implement, making them a practical and effective policy tool.
B.2. Adaptation
Many countries with a history of extensive extractive industries, such as Australia, have a culture dominated by fossil fuel narratives. Politicians and mainstream media are captured by fossil fuel companies, reducing the possibility that the switch to clean energy will be embraced and will endure any backlash.
Means of Implementation and Support
C.3. Capacity Building
In the UNFCCC context, capacity-building refers to the process of strengthening the abilities of countries, particularly developing countries, to effectively respond to climate change. This sub-section includes references to Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) and Children and Youth engagement.
Restricting fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship would support the objectives of Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) by creating a more accurate and enabling information environment for climate education, public awareness and participation. ACE recognises that informed citizens are essential to effective climate action. However, widespread advertising by fossil fuel companies and high-emissions products can undermine climate education efforts by promoting behaviours and consumption patterns that are inconsistent with climate goals. Reducing such advertising would help ensure that public information better reflects the scientific consensus on climate change and the need for a rapid transition to clean energy.
Restrictions on fossil fuel sponsorship would also strengthen ACE’s commitment to meaningful public participation, particularly for children and young people. Young people are increasingly concerned about climate impacts, yet many of the spaces they inhabit—including sporting, cultural and educational events—are sponsored by companies whose business models contribute significantly to the problem. Limiting fossil fuel sponsorship would reduce conflicting messages and help create environments that empower young people to engage with climate issues free from commercial influences that normalise fossil fuel dependence.
Finally, fossil fuel advertising restrictions would advance ACE’s goals of intergenerational equity and climate justice. Children and young people will bear a disproportionate share of the long-term impacts of climate change, despite contributing least to the problem. By reducing the promotion of products and industries that drive emissions, governments can help protect the rights and wellbeing of future generations while demonstrating that public policy is aligned with the climate commitments, education objectives and youth engagement principles embedded in the UNFCCC and its ACE framework.
G. Guidance and Way Forward
Decarbonise Culture
Curb public fossil fuel demand by:
- national and sub-national bans on the marketing of high-emissions products
- bans on fossil fuel companies sponsoring or branding education materials or educational settings such as museums, schools and sports
- introduction of health warning labels on petrol and gas products
- introduction of EU-style CO2 labels on energy-using products and their advertising materials.
This should be complemented by:
- government advertising campaigns explaining how the transition benefits the community.
- governments not hiring advertising agencies that have fossil fuel clients.