Fossil fuel companies spend $5.6 billion to improve public image through sports deals
Fossil fuel firms have invested billions in global sports sponsorships, using these deals to improve their reputation amid growing concerns about their role in climate change.
Damien Gayle reports for The Guardian.
In short:
- Oil and gas companies have signed more than 200 sports sponsorship deals across various sports, including motorsports, football, and snow sports.
- Saudi Arabia's Aramco was the largest spender, contributing $1.3 billion, with other firms like Ineos and Shell also investing heavily.
- The report compares these deals to tobacco companies’ past strategies of associating with sports to appear more socially acceptable.
Key quote:
"Fossil fuel companies are seeking to associate their product, whose air pollution alone is estimated to kill over 5 million people a year, with sport’s immense social capital and positive health impacts."
— New Weather Institute report
Why this matters:
The fossil fuel industry’s massive spending on sports sponsorship attempts to shift public perception and divert attention from the environmental and health impacts of fossil fuels. As with tobacco companies before them, these deals seek to normalize industries with harmful effects.
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