‘Misleading’ Shell adverts about low-carbon products banned
Three adverts for Shell that publicise its climate-friendly products have been banned for glossing over its “large scale” investments in oil and gas.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled the ads created the impression that a “significant proportion of Shell’s business” comprised “low carbon energy products”.
The company misleadingly “omitted” information that oil and gas made up the “vast majority” of its operations, the ASA said.
Shell said it strongly disagreed with the watchdog’s decision and claimed the finding could slow the UK’s move towards renewable energy.
The three adverts in question showcased the renewable power that Shell provides and its clean energy services, including electric vehicle charging.
A TV ad from last June stated 1.4 million households in the UK used 100% renewable electricity from Shell. It also mentioned that the firm was working on a wind project that could power six million homes and aimed to fit 50,000 electric car chargers nationwide by 2025.
A video on Shell’s YouTube channel was captioned: “From electric vehicle charging to renewable electricity for your home, Shell is giving customers more low-carbon choices and helping drive the UK’s energy transition. The UK is ready for cleaner energy.”
Shell UK said it wanted the ads to raise consumer awareness about its range of energy products that were better for the environment than fossil fuels, and increase demand for them.
It cited research suggesting that 83% of consumers primarily associated the brand with the sale of petrol, arguing they would be “unlikely to assume that the ads’ content covered the full range of its business activities”.
One of the adverts banned by the ASA
A screenshot of one of the adverts banned by the ASA. Pic: Shell via ASA
In 2022, Shell spent 17% (£3.5bn) of its total capital expenditure (£20bn) on “low-carbon energy solutions”, which include renewable wind and solar power as well as things like electric vehicle charging, biofuels, carbon credits and hydrogen filling stations.
Why the ASA upheld the complaint
The ASA acknowledged that many people would associate Shell with petrol sales, as well as oil and gas production.
It said they would also be aware that many companies in carbon-intensive industries, including the oil and gas sector, aimed to dramatically reduce their emissions in response to the climate crisis.
Burning coal, oil and gas is the biggest driver of climate change, responsible for 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The ASA said: “We understood that large-scale oil and gas investment and extraction comprised the vast majority of the company’s business model in 2022 and would continue to do so in the near future.
“We therefore considered that, because (the ads) gave the overall impression that a significant proportion of Shell’s business comprised lower-carbon energy products, further information about the proportion of Shell’s overall business model that comprised lower-carbon energy products was material information that should have been included.
“Because the ads did not include such information, we concluded that they omitted material information and were likely to mislead.”
It ruled that the ads must not appear again.
Read more:
Protesters try to storm stage at Shell AGM
Shell announces record annual profits
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Climate criminals!’ – oil firm protest
A Shell spokesman said: “We strongly disagree with the ASA’s decision, which could slow the UK’s drive towards renewable energy.
“People are already well aware that Shell produces the oil and gas they depend on today. When customers fill up at our petrol stations across the UK, it’s under the instantly recognisable Shell logo.”
Shell claimed that many people do not know about its investment in more eco-friendly options, such as its vast public networks of EV charge-points.
It added: “No energy transition can be successful if people are not aware of the alternatives available to them. That is what our adverts set out to show, and that is why we’re concerned by this short-sighted decision.”
Veronica Wignall, from activist network Adfree Cities, which raised the complaint with the ASA, said: “Today’s official ban on Shell’s adverts marks the end of the line for fossil fuel greenwashing in the UK.
“The world’s biggest polluters will not be permitted to advertise that they are ‘green’ while they build new pipelines, refineries and rigs.”
Fossil fuel companies should be banned from advertising at all given their role in the climate crisis, she added.
Watch The Climate Show with Tom Heap on Saturday and Sunday at 3pm and 7.30pm on Sky News, on the Sky News website and app, and on YouTube and Twitter.
The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.
Princess Beatrice has given birth to a baby girl named Athena several weeks prematurely, Buckingham Palace has said.
The late Queen’s granddaughter was due to give birth in early spring and was told in December not to travel long distances.
Mother and daughter are now both said to be at home and doing well.
In a statement, the palace said: “Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice and Mr Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are delighted to announce the safe arrival of their daughter, Athena Elizabeth Rose Mapelli Mozzi, born on Wednesday 22nd January, at 12.57pm, at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.
“The baby was born weighing four pounds and five ounces.
“Their Majesties The King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family have all been informed and are delighted with the news.”
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Pic: PA
Mr Mapelli Mozzi posted a tribute to his new daughter, calling her “tiny and absolutely perfect”.
He wrote on Instagram sharing a photograph of Athena wrapped in a blanket: “Athena Elizabeth Rose Mapelli Mozzi.
“We welcomed baby Athena into our lives last week. She is tiny and absolutely perfect.
Read more on Sky News:
Love Island winner jailed over dog attacks
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni could go to trial
“We are all (including Wolfie and Sienna) already completely besotted with her.
“Our hearts are overflowing with love for you, baby Athena.
“A massive thank you from my wife and I goes out to all the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their exceptional care and support during this incredibly special time.”
The couple share a three-year-old daughter, Sienna. Mr Mapelli Mozzi also has an eight-year-old son, Wolfie.
Princess Beatrice’s sister Princess Eugenie celebrated the new arrival by posting “Welcome Baby Girl” and sharing Mr Mapelli Mozzi’s photograph on her Instagram Stories.
Lloyds Banking Group is to close a further 136 branches.
Britain’s biggest mortgage lender said it will shut 61 Lloyds, 61 Halifax, and 14 Bank of Scotland sites between May this year and March 2026.
All workers affected by the closures would be offered alternative roles, the group said.
Money latest: People who only watch Netflix or Disney ‘may have to pay BBC licence fee’
A list of the affected branches, with their expected closure date:
Lloyds
• Lloyds Biggleswade – 05/11/2025
• Lloyds Bishop Auckland – 08/05/2025
• Lloyds Blandford – 10/11/2025
• Lloyds Bolton Farnworth – 28/05/2025
• Lloyds Bridgnorth – 20/05/2025
• Lloyds Brigg – 05/03/2026
• Lloyds Bristol Bishopsworth – 06/11/2025
• Lloyds Bristol Clifton – 21/05/2025
• Lloyds Bristol Patchway – 28/05/2025
• Lloyds Bromsgrove – 07/05/2025
• Lloyds Bury – 21/10/2025
• Lloyds Cardiff Whitchurch – 29/05/2025
• Lloyds Caterham – 05/03/2026
• Lloyds Chard – 11/11/2025
• Lloyds Coventry Foleshill – 04/11/2025
• Lloyds Dorchester – 19/06/2025
• Lloyds Dunstable – 04/11/2025
• Lloyds East Grinstead – 12/11/2025
• Lloyds Falmouth – 13/11/2025
• Lloyds Feltham – 04/11/2025
• Lloyds Ferndown – 17/11/2025
• Lloyds Fulham – 27/05/2025
• Lloyds Glossop – 09/03/2026
• Lloyds Godalming – 29/05/2025
• Lloyds Herne Bay – 21/05/2025
• Lloyds Hexham – 05/11/2025
• Lloyds Hornchurch Station Lane – 11/09/2025
• Lloyds Houghton le Spring – 10/03/2026
• Lloyds Hucknall – 04/03/2026
• Lloyds Kidderminster – 16/10/2025
• Lloyds Launceston – 12/05/2025
• Lloyds Leeds Crossgates – 20/08/2025
• Lloyds Leominster – 18/11/2025
• Lloyds Leyland – 08/05/2025
• Lloyds Liverpool Breck Rd – 04/03/2026
• Lloyds Loughton – 12/11/2025
• Lloyds Louth – 07/05/2025
• Lloyds Ludlow – 20/05/2025
• Lloyds Manchester Moston – 11/03/2026
• Lloyds Manchester Newton Heath – 05/11/2025
• Lloyds Margate – 14/05/2025
• Lloyds Pembroke Dock – 26/06/2025
• Lloyds Peterlee Yoden Way – 03/03/2026
• Lloyds Plymstock – 04/11/2025
• Lloyds Pontardawe – 19/11/2025
• Lloyds Pontyclun – 12/05/2025
• Lloyds Prudhoe – 15/05/2025
• Lloyds Rayleigh – 20/05/2025
• Lloyds Seaton – 11/03/20265
• Lloyds Sheffield Woodhouse – 11/11/2025
• Lloyds Shipston-on-Stour – 11/11/2025
• Lloyds Sleaford – 12/03/2026
• Lloyds Southall – 15/10/2025
• Lloyds Southsea – 02/06/2025
• Lloyds Stoke-on-Trent – 30/10/2026
• Lloyds Thornbury Avon – 26/02/2026
• Lloyds Tooting – 08/10/2025
• Lloyds Tunstall – 09/03/2026
• Lloyds Walthamstow – 22/10/2025
• Lloyds Welwyn Garden City – 11/06/2025
• Lloyds Wymondham – 12/03/2026
Halifax
• Halifax Balham – 22/05/2025
• Halifax Bangor (N Ireland) – 29/05/2025
• Halifax Barrow in Furness – 10/09/2025
• Halifax Bexleyheath – 23/10/2025
• Halifax Birmingham Bearwood – 02/03/2026
• Halifax Blackpool Lytham Road – 29/10/2025
• Halifax Bolton – 20/11/2025
• Halifax Brentwood – 10/09/2025
• Halifax Bromsgrove – 29/05/2025
• Halifax Cannon Street – 28/05/2025
• Halifax Carmarthen – 06/10/2025
• Halifax Castleford – 08/09/2025
• Halifax Cirencester – 25/09/2025
• Halifax Clapham Junction – 23/09/2025
• Halifax Crewe – 14/10/2025
• Halifax Derby East St – 23/10/2025
• Halifax Eltham – 29/10/2025
• Halifax Epsom – 15/09/2025
• Halifax Erdington – 24/09/2025
• Halifax Felixstowe – 02/06/2025
• Halifax Fleetwood – 25/06/2025
• Halifax Folkestone – 09/10/2025
• Halifax Fulham – 08/05/2025
• Halifax Gainsborough – 02/06/2025
• Halifax Hayes – 06/10/2025
• Halifax Hexham – 05/11/2025
• Halifax Horsforth – 24/02/2025
• Halifax Hove – 20/10/2025
• Halifax Huntingdon – 15/05/2025
• Halifax Kingsbury – 02/06/2025
• Halifax Kingswood – 08/10/2025
• Halifax Launceston – 03/06/2025
• Halifax Leek – 04/06/2025
• Halifax Letchworth – 03/06/2025
• Halifax London Strand – 08/05/2025
• Halifax Long Eaton – 18/09/2025
• Halifax Mold – 16/10/2025
• Halifax Nelson – 04/03/2026
• Halifax Northwich – 03/09/2025
• Halifax Omagh – 19/05/2025
• Halifax Peterlee – 03/03/2026
• Halifax Pontypridd – 15/07/2025
• Halifax Rayleigh – 20/05/2025
• Halifax Rhyl – 23/09/2025
• Halifax Richmond (Surrey) – 16/09/2025
• Halifax Sittingbourne – 15/10/2025
• Halifax Skegness – 03/09/2025
• Halifax Sleaford – 06/11/2025
• Halifax Southport – 07/10/2025
• Halifax St Annes – 12/06/2025
• Halifax St Austell – 13/05/2025
• Halifax Stevenage Queensway – 06/01/2026
• Halifax Telford – 22/10/2025
• Halifax Walkden – 25/09/2025
• Halifax Wallasey – 04/09/2025
• Halifax Waltham Cross – 27/05/2025
• Halifax Welwyn Garden City – 11/06/2025
• Halifax Wickford – 10/11/2025
• Halifax Wilmslow – 19/05/2025
• Halifax Winton – 01/10/2025
• Halifax Woolwich – 01/10/2025
Bank of Scotland
• Bank of Scotland Alexandria – 02/03/2026
• Bank of Scotland Annan – 02/03/2026
• Bank of Scotland Barrhead – 21/05/2025
• Bank of Scotland Bishopbriggs – 21/05/2025
• Bank of Scotland Edinburgh Corstorphine West – 29/10/2025
• Bank of Scotland Edinburgh Wester Hailes – 27/05/2025
• Bank of Scotland Helensburgh – 05/03/2026
• Bank of Scotland Kirkintilloch – 22/05/2025
• Bank of Scotland Moffat – 29/10/2025
• Bank of Scotland Peebles – 27/05/2025
• Bank of Scotland Pitlochry – 30/10/2025
• Bank of Scotland Sanquhar – 28/05/2025
• Bank of Scotland Thornhill – 03/11/2025
• Bank of Scotland Uddingston – 22/05/2025
Lloyds blamed the move on customers shifting away from banking in person to using online services, meaning there is less need for physical sites.
It made the announcement just weeks after taking the decision to allow its customers to access on-site services across any of the group’s branded branches.
Lloyds also revealed the planned closure of two major offices – in Liverpool and Dunfermline – affecting more than 1,000 staff.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Lloyds boss gives interest rate predictions
A spokesperson said: “Over 20 million customers are using our apps for on-demand access to their money and customers have more choice and flexibility than ever for their day-to-day banking.
“Alongside our apps, customers can also use telephone banking, visit a community banker or use any Halifax, Lloyds or Bank of Scotland branch, giving access to many more branches.
“Customers can also do their everyday banking at over 11,000 branches of the Post Office or in a Banking Hub.”
The UK’s big banking brands have been shutting branches at pace since the fallout from the financial crisis in 2008 which sparked a rush to cut costs.
The uptake of digital banking services has seen more than 6,000 sites go to the wall since 2015, according to the consumer group Which?
The closure plan revealed on Wednesday will bring the Lloyds brand down to 386 branches, Halifax down to 281 branches and Bank of Scotland to 90 branches once completed.
Campaigners have long argued that the rate of closures has been too quick to allow alternatives, such as banking hubs, to fill the void.
The elderly are least likely to bank online while rural communities have been particularly hard hit through the loss of banking services altogether.
Banking hubs are physical sites where services are shared.
As of September 2024, there were 76 across the UK though that number was set to more than double within months, according to Cash Access UK.
The government supports a third runway at Heathrow, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced.
Ms Reeves said the expansion of Europe’s busiest airport was “badly needed” to connect the UK to the world and open up new opportunities for growth.
A third runway will “unlock further growth, boost investment increase exports and make the UK more open and more connected”, she said.
Politics latest: Reaction to third runway decision
It could increase potential GDP (Gross Domestic Product) by 0.43% by 2050, a Frontier Economics study found, she said.
Ms Reeves said an expansion could create more than 100,000 jobs.
The announcement has been welcomed by some business groups but anger by London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan, the Lib Dems, the Green Party and environmental groups.
Heathrow is right next to large residential areas. Pic: PA
As part of a speech on funding infrastructure across the UK to promote growth, Ms Reeves said: “Persistent delays have caused doubts about our seriousness towards improving our economic prospects.”
She added that business groups like the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Chambers of Commerce (BCC), as well as trade unions “are clear – a third runway is badly needed”.
Ms Reeves said the UK is “already making great strides in transitioning to cleaner and greener aviation” and announced the government is investing £63m over the next year into the Advanced Fuel Fund grant programme to support the development of sustainable aviation fuel production plants.
The government will be accepting proposals until the summer and will then carry out a “full assessment” through the Airport National Policy Statement to “ensure a third runway is delivered in line with our legal, environmental and climate objectives”.
Ms Reeves said the government expects any associated surface transport costs to the third runway’s construction will be financed through private funding.
Read more:
A long history of Heathrow’s third runway plans
The debate around whether Europe’s busiest airport should expand has been circling over British politics for decades.
Ms Reeves‘s decision will likely put her at odds with Climate Secretary Ed Miliband, who has said airport expansions will not go ahead if they cannot meet climate targets.
However, he said last week he would not resign if the government approved a third runway despite threatening to resign from Gordon Brown’s cabinet as climate change secretary in 2009 over the plans and in 2018 he said an expansion was “very likely” to make air pollution worse.
He has now said the government can meet both its growth and net zero missions together.
Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he remains opposed to a third runway “because of the severe impact it will have on noise, air pollution and meeting our climate change targets”.
He said he will carefully scrutinise any new proposals, “including the impact it will have on people living in the area and the huge knock-on effects for our transport infrastructure”.
“Despite the progress that’s been made in the aviation sector to make it more sustainable, I’m simply not convinced that you can have hundreds of thousands of additional flights at Heathrow every year without a hugely damaging impact on our environment,” he added.
Green Party MP Sian Berry said expanding airports “in the face of a climate emergency is the most irresponsible announcement from any government I have seen since the Liz Truss budget”.
Conservative shadow chancellor Mel Stride accused Ms Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer, and “their job destroying budget” of being “the biggest barriers to growth”.
“What’s worse, the anti-growth chancellor could not rule out coming back with yet more tax rises in March,” he added.
“This is a Labour government run by politicians who do not understand business, or where wealth comes from. Under new leadership, the Conservatives will continue to back businesses and hold this government to account.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports10 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway