‘Every Day Matters’: Guardian Stops Accepting Fossil Fuel Ads

The Guardian is owned by a charity, the Scott Trust, which has already shifted its investments away from fossil fuel investments. Fossil fuel-related investments now make up less than 1 percent of its fund, the newspaper said. The Guardian Media Group has also committed to getting its emissions down to net zero by 2030.

The Guardian and its Sunday paper, The Observer, rely on advertising for about 40 percent of their revenue, and advertisements from fossil fuel companies are worth about 500,000 pounds, or about $655,000, to the company.

BP, Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Total spent about £3.7 million on print advertising in Britain in 2019, according to Nielsen AdIntel.

The executives conceded that the company could have taken bigger steps to put pressure on the companies that advertised with them.

“Of course we know some readers would like us to go further, banning ads for any product with a significant carbon footprint, such as cars or holidays,” Ms. Bateson and Mr. Nicklin wrote in their blog explaining the reasons behind the decision. “Stopping those ads would be a severe financial blow, and might force us to make significant cuts to Guardian and Observer journalism around the world.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/business/media/guardian-climate-change-fossil-fuel-advertisements.html?emc=rss&partner=rss