FROM
CRADLE
TO
CAREER
Fossil Fuel Industry Presence in Australian Childhood Settings.
Major coal, oil and gas corporations are marketing to potentially millions of Australian children through schools, museums, sporting clubs, scholarships and career pathway programs.
From Cradle to Career, is the first national report of fossil fuel company influence in childhood settings. It finds that policy loopholes are allowing private companies to reach our kids in the very places they should be protected.
What we found
children’s programs
million across just six programs
%
want schools funded by governments, not fossil fuel companies
Why it matters
Children are growing up in a climate crisis driven primarily by the extraction and burning of coal, oil and gas.
At the same time, many fossil fuel companies are embedding themselves within institutions that children and families are encouraged to trust.
This is not traditional advertising.
It’s a largely undocumented system of influence that allows fossil fuel companies to borrow the authority of trusted institutions and trusted adults during some of the most formative years of a child’s life.
Instead of encountering these companies as advertising or marketing, children see them through teachers, museum educators, sporting coaches, community leaders and education materials.
This helps build social acceptability for an industry whose products are driving climate change and harming public health.
We must protect kids from unhealthy advertising. Marketing does not belong in classrooms and trusted childhood institutions.
Explore the evidence behind one of the most comprehensive investigations ever undertaken into fossil fuel industry influence on children and young people in Australia.
Campaign associated with Glencore’s “Advancing Everyday Life” advertising campaign launched in June 2022.
Programs by company
Santos
BHP
Woodside
Glencore
Chevron
Shell
71
49
47
30
22
17
Santos 71
BHP 49
Woodside 47
Glencore 30
Chevron 22
Shell 17
Programs by location
National
Western Australia
Queensland
New South Wales
Tasmania
South Australia
Northern Territory
Victoria
119
120
105
75
47
46
26
7
National 119
Western Australia 120
Queensland 105
New South Wales 75
Tasmania 47
South Australia 46
Northern Territory 26
Victoria 7
The above tables show the more than 260 programs, partnerships, sponsorships and initiatives identified through this investigation. Many of these activities span multiple states and territories, demonstrating the national reach of fossil fuel industry engagement with children, families and educational institutions. Programs are listed in every jurisdiction where they operate, meaning state and territory totals cannot be combined into a national total.
Take action
Australian children deserve learning environments that are independent, evidence-based and free from fossil fuel industry influence.
When parents send their children to school, enrol them in sport, visit a museum or drop them off at childcare, they expect those institutions to help children learn, grow and thrive.
They do not expect them to be used as vehicles for fossil fuel companies to build trust and influence with future generations.
Yet that’s exactly what our investigation found.
From Cradle to Career reveals the scale of fossil fuel industry involvement in places where Australian children learn, play and grow — from early childhood education and schools to museums, sporting clubs, scholarships, teacher training and youth career pathways.
This is not traditional advertising.
It’s a largely undocumented system of influence that allows fossil fuel companies to borrow the authority of trusted institutions and trusted adults during some of the most formative years of a child’s life.
What’s at stake
Children are growing up in a climate crisis driven largely by the extraction and burning of coal, oil and gas.
At the same time, fossil fuel companies are gaining access to the institutions children and families are encouraged to trust.
Their influence reaches children through classrooms, museums, sport, community programs and education initiatives — often in settings designed to feel safe, credible and independent.
This helps build social licence for an industry whose products are accelerating climate change and harming public health.
Comms Declare promotes sustainable communications and is dedicated to shifting the climate change narrative across Oceania. We pay our respects to traditional owners and custodians on the lands on which we work.
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