400+ Scientists Tell COP27 PR Firm to Drop Exxon and Other Fossil Fuel Clients

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https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/11/04/400-scientists-tell-cop27-pr-firm-drop-exxon-and-other-fossil-fuel-clients

400+ Scientists Tell COP27 PR Firm to Drop Exxon and Other Fossil Fuel Clients

"Hill+Knowlton's work with fossil fuel clients is an egregious conflict of interest with the mission of COP27 and what is needed to address the worsening impacts of climate change," said one expert.

KENNY STANCIL
November 4, 2022

More than 420 scientists on Friday urged Hill+Knowlton Strategies—the U.S.-based public relations firm hired by the Egyptian government to lead communications at the United Nations' annual climate summit—to drop its fossil fuel clients before the pivotal COP27 talks start this weekend in Sharm el-Sheikh.

"Letting Hill+Knowlton run communications for the climate talks is like putting the fox's PR hack in charge of branding the chicken coop."

In an open letter organized by Fossil Free Media's Clean Creatives campaign and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), the experts wrote that "Hill+Knowlton has played an enabling role in [fossil fuel industry-backed disinformation] campaigns to mislead the public through its work with clients such as Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil, and the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative."

"These clients have not taken the fundamental steps necessary to address the climate emergency and sharply rein in fossil fuels," says the letter. "Instead, they have used Hill+Knowlton and other PR agencies to spin, delay, and mislead, in order to continue expanding fossil fuel production and thereby increasing heat-trapping emissions."

According to Clean Creatives campaign director Duncan Meisel, "Hill+Knowlton's fossil fuel clients have told investors and regulators that they plan to dig up and burn enough coal, oil, and gas to make achieving the Paris climate agreement"—which seeks to limit global warming to 1.5ºC above preindustrial levels—"impossible."

"Working with these clients," Meisel said in a statement, "is incompatible with H+K's ability to be an effective advocate for action to stop the climate emergency at COP27."

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