An advert for world power agency Repsol’s involvement in renewable hydrogen has been banned for omitting to make any point out that large-scale oil and fuel kinds the “overwhelming majority” of its enterprise.
The web advert on the Monetary Occasions web site in July featured a picture of a water droplet with the caption: “Renewable hydrogen, one other various to scale back emissions. At Repsol, we’re dedicated to renewable hydrogen as an power supply that provides up completely different makes use of reminiscent of zero web emissions artificial gas manufacturing.”
The advert additionally featured graphics together with the textual content “H2”, a photo voltaic panel with a solar, a automotive with a stylised letter “e” that had a plug on the finish, a wind turbine, a sapling, and a petroleum pump with a leaf on it.
Adfree Cities complained that the advert was deceptive as a result of it omitted important details about the general environmental impression of Repsol’s (MCE:REP) enterprise actions.
Repsol mentioned its investments in low-carbon power make up a 3rd of its complete spending, and it goals to attain web zero emissions throughout its enterprise by 2050.
The agency describes itself as the most important operator within the Spanish electrical automobile (EV) charging community, whereas additionally creating and promoting liquid fuels, gasoline and diesel, renewable biofuels, and pure fuel for autos, producing a mean of 600,000 barrels of oil equal per day, of which almost 70% is fuel.
It mentioned it’s a Spanish firm with no related presence for customers within the UK market, and the advert had been focused at potential traders within the power sector fairly than most people.
It added that it has no obligation to explain the totality of its enterprise actions in an advert, and that the advert couldn’t have misled customers or traders into making a transactional determination that they’d not in any other case have taken.
The ASA mentioned Repsol’s carbon emissions stood at 171 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equal (CO2e) in 2021 – 50% of the UK’s emissions in 2021 – and it produced roughly 600,000 barrels of oil per day.
The watchdog famous that the corporate additionally has a considerable oil and fuel exploration technique, proudly owning an curiosity in 40,660 acres of oil and fuel growth and exploration throughout Europe, Latin America, North America, Africa, and Asia and Oceania.
The ASA mentioned: “We subsequently understood that large-scale world oil and fuel funding and exploration fashioned the overwhelming majority of Repsol’s enterprise pursuits.
“We thought-about the advert gave the general impression {that a} important proportion of Repsol’s enterprise comprised decrease carbon power, reminiscent of renewable hydrogen, and subsequently additional details about the proportion of Repsol’s general enterprise mannequin that comprised decrease carbon power was materials info that ought to have been included.
“As a result of the advert didn’t embody that info, we concluded it omitted materials info and was more likely to mislead.”
The ASA dominated that the advert should not seem once more, including: “We instructed Repsol to make sure that their future advertisements that includes environmental claims didn’t mislead by omitting important details about the proportion of their enterprise actions that had been comprised of renewable power, or the position renewable power and renewable hydrogen performed of their enterprise actions.”
Beneficial for you