Walking down a Toronto street recently I saw an ad touting a fossil-fuel company's net-zero credentials. But to see such belief-straining claims, I would not even need to leave my house.
According to a study by the Guardian and InfluenceMap, such ads are all over Google. Ads for oil giant Shell, for example, appeared on 86% of searches for "net zero", with many promoting the company's pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Are corporations finally waking up to the urgency of the climate crisis, or is this just more greenwashing?
One thing is certain: The climate crisis is escalating fast. California is enduring record-breaking heat waves. A third of Pakistan is under water. China is suffering a withering drought. And that is just what is happening right now. From cold snaps in Texas to wildfires in Europe, climate change has become impossible to ignore.
