New campaign targets Bristol ‘green-washing’

An environmental group have launched a new campaign bemoaning ‘green-washing’ in Bristol.

The latest campaign of Extinction Rebellion (XR) Bristol is called ‘Green-wash free Bristol’ and aims to expose organisations which the group claim are the worst “green-washing offenders” in the city.

Green-washing is when companies harm the environment through their operations but market themselves as caring about climate change.

From Saturday, February 26, a host of advertisement on billboards and posters cropped up around the city as part of an effort to raise public awareness of the practice.

Launching the campaign on behalf of XR, Dr Claire Gronow said: “In Bristol – as is happening world-wide – we are facing a tsunami of greenwash as businesses, local and national governments try to avoid the growing challenge of reducing carbon emissions.”

“The public are widely concerned about climate change, concerned about elite hypocrisy and concerned about lies at the highest levels. People want their politicians and media to be truthful. People want to do the right environmental thing. But the dishonesty of greenwashing makes it impossible to know what’s right or true.

The Bristol University lecturer added: “Over the coming months our billboards and posters will call out these dishonest practices and make Bristol a no-go area for greenwash.”

Lees features on a Bath Road billboard  – photo: Extinction Rebellion

The campaign targets Bristol Airport chief executive Dave Lees, who appears on a billboard on Bath Road which brands him a “frequent f’liar”.

Members of the campaign planned to disrupt the Visit West annual conference on Monday, February 28 where Lees was giving a speech. However, the protest did not go as planned as the event was limited to members-only. Though protesters were not able to get into the conference, campaigners maintained a demonstration outside the venue.

When the Planning Inspectorate overturned the decision to block plans to expand Bristol Airport in February, Lees called the expansion “excellent news for our region’s economy”.

The approved plans will see the airport lifting its current capacity from 10 million to 12 million passengers per year.

About the decision, Lees said: “Bristol Airport welcomes the decision of the Planning Inspectorate. The decision is excellent news for our region’s economy, allowing us to create thousands of new jobs in the years ahead and provide more choice for our customers, supporting inbound tourism, and reducing the millions of road journeys made to London airports each year.

He added: “We will now push ahead with our multi-million-pound plans for net zero operations by 2030 and look forward to working with stakeholders and the community to deliver sustainable growth.”

Opposition to the expansion outpoured when it was decided, with Bristol Airport Action Network branding the move at ‘betrayal’  – photo: Bristol Airport Action Network

Echoing other campaigners, councillors and politicians, the environmental group XR are concerned about the decision’s environmental consequences.

Richard Baxter from the Bristol Airport Action Network said: “It’s no joke when Bristol Airport claims it puts sustainability at the heart of their expansion proposals when their plans to grow to 12 million passengers per year is estimated to result in adding 1 million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year.

“In supporting the expansion, airport owners and the government are gambling with our future by promising technological solutions that don’t even exist and the practice of ‘offsetting’ that will do little to reduce their carbon emissions.”

The campaign ‘Green-wash free Bristol’ will continue with a series of actions over the coming months.

Main photo: Extinction Rebellion

Read more: ‘We will not be giving up our fight against airport expansion’ 

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