Comms Declare

$40,000 | August 2023

What do Comms Declare do?

Comms Declare is the only group in Australia solely dedicated to ending the social licence of fossil fuels and high emissions products. Our members include dozens of communications agencies and hundreds of members whose expertise the group can draw on. Our committee members are leaders in sustainability communications.

Comms Declare use trusted voices, powerful creative messages, and repetition, to make the promotion of fossil fuels as morally and socially offensive as tobacco advertising. Their 'Fossil Ad Ban' campaign is the most successful of its type in the world. Since launching in 2022, 12 Australian councils, including the City of Sydney, have voted to ban fossil fuel advertising and sponsorships.

Why is this work important?

A significant part of the fossil fuel industry’s soft power is advertising and sponsorships, where companies position themselves as part of Australia’s identity and essential to the economy. This gives the industry undeserved social licence and further entrenches its damaging practices.

In the past year, momentum has been growing against fossil fuel promotions, especially in sports and the arts. However, putting pressure on individual organisations is an inefficient and temporary solution – new policy is the only way to ensure these changes are widely applied and permanent.

The election of green-leaning independents, Greens and the ALP across the mainland, Australia joining the ‘carbon club’ and wanting to host COP, means the next 12 months is the best opportunity in a decade to enact laws.

So, as emissions targets are set and other climate initiatives are rolled out, this is our chance to achieve fossil fuel advertising bans to both help reduce excessive consumption and reduce the impact of the inevitable counter actions from fossil fuel industries.

How is Groundswell supporting this work?

With Groundswell’s support, In mid-2023 Comm’s Declare will launch our national campaign aimed at federal politicians with these three aims:

• National bans on fossil fuel advertising and sponsorships

• CO2 information and/or carbon warning labels on high emissions products

• Stronger codes and regulations against greenwashing and green claims in advertising.

This will be done with lobbying, a PR moment at federal parliament house, as well as meetings around the Senate inquiry into Greenwashing.

In early 2024 we hope to pressure state and territory governments to enact fossil fuel advertising restrictions through highlighting the influence of fossil fuel companies in primary and secondary schools.

In addition, we will continue to work with councils and local government bodies to increase fossil fuel advertising bans and de-platform coal, oil and gas.