(Bloomberg) -- A South African advertising regulator found TotalEnergies SE made a “misleading” claim over its commitment to sustainable development, marking the first time a challenge of this kind has been made in the country.
Fossil Free SA argued TotalEnergies is “lying to the public” about the nature of its business in a complaint filed with the Advertising Regulatory Board. The environmental group cited a promotion involving South African National Parks in which the French oil major states it’s “committed to sustainable development and environmental protection,” according to a copy of the document.
In a response to the complaint, TotalEnergies said the post was a corporate communication, not an advertisement, and should not be subject to such a review. It also listed examples of renewable energy projects and environmental impact assessments that it said demonstrated such a commitment. The company didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking additional comment.
While many of Total’s projects are aimed at sustainable development, there is “no doubt that the core business of the advertiser is directly opposed to the issue,” as the “ongoing exploitation of fossil fuel is contra-indicated in this context,” the ARB said. It found the oil company’s claim of sustainable development linked to the national park system “misleading” and in contravention of the advertising code.
The decision follows a crackdown on greenwashing by the UK’s advertising regulator, which has targeted airlines, banks and carmakers in recent years, and similar scrutiny by the European Union. Total was previously accused by Greenpeace of allegedly misleading the French public about being able to achieve net zero by 2050.
The South African complaint stems from Fossil Free SA’s effort to ban fossil fuel companies from advertising, following similar campaigns in Europe. “You cannot claim to do one thing and be doing the other,” Lazola Kati, a manager of the program that started this year, said in an interview. “It’s slowing down the just transition.”
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