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October 2024: BMJ bans ads from fossil banks, including Barclays Bank
In October 2024, BMJ announced in their editorial that they are going to ban ads by banks that fund fossil fuel companies. They state:
"In 2020, The BMJ committed to ban advertising and research funded by companies that produce fossil fuels. We have done so. And we asked others to join us. We will now strengthen our advertising policy further, following criticisms from readers that we carried advertising in our weekly print edition for Barclays Bank, a major funder of the fossil fuel industry. We are not banning advertising from all banks, but we will allow it only from banks that do not fund fossil fuel companies."
Rising to the challenge: next steps in The BMJ's climate commitments
January 2020: BMJ bans fossil ads
"For our part, we will not accept advertising or research funded by companies that produce fossil fuels." The British Medical Journal banned fossil ads and research as part of their divestment strategy. Executive editor Kamran Abbasi announced this in January 2020 with a glowing statement.
"Health professionals and medical organisations should not accept the world as it is. This is not a matter of playing party politics or anticorporate posturing. Taking action is a duty to the people we serve and to future generations."