Description

The GVB (Amsterdam public transport) judges that Shell's advertising does not fit within its sustainability policy and is going to tighten its advertising policy. Alderman Van Doorninck writes this in a letter (March 2020) to Extinction Rebellion Amsterdam, who protested against Shell's greenwashing.

Shell's ads for 'The Great Travel Hack' were everywhere in Amsterdam. Among others, the ferry across the IJ and trams were fully printed with Shell's advertisements for its YouTube production The Great Travel Hack, in which Shell links its fossil logo to sustainable transport.

 

Action Extinction Rebellion 

Extinction Rebellion Amsterdam protested against the greenwashing advertising in 2019. "With their hashtag #MakeTheFuture, Shell claims our future, while with its actions it actually destroys our future." In March, the Amsterdam municipality responded. "The advertisements for Shell are not in line with GVB's sustainability policy that focuses on zero-emission public transport," alderman Van Doorninck wrote to XR Amsterdam on 17 March. "GVB will tighten the policy around advertisers in the new tender in mid-2021."

 

Misleading

Alderman Van Doorninck replies, "Shell extracts fossil energy such as oil and gas on a large scale worldwide. At the same time, Shell says it supports the energy transition to a CO2-neutral economy and invests in renewable energy. However, those investments in renewable energy are very limited (less than 5%) compared to their investments in fossil. As such, The Great Travel Hack campaign does not align with Shell's dominant fossil business activity."

Extinction Rebellion Amsterdam welcomes the news, four months into their campaign. "This is an important victory. It is now on paper that GVB considers the sustainably-intended Shell advertisements unsustainable.

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