Public relations giant Edelman is helping COP30 host-nation Brazil hone its media strategy for this year’s UN climate conference – even though it also works for Shell, one of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies.
Edelman was awarded the $835,000 contract this month via a UN agency to help Brazil’s COP30 team “craft a strategic narrative”, manage international media relations, create digital content and navigate any PR crises at November’s summit, according to the agreement filed with the US government.
Climate Home News has learned that the same executive overseeing the firm’s work with Shell in Brazil – where the energy company is ramping up oil and gas output – will also work on the COP30 contract.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which managed the contracting process for the COP30 presidency, told Climate Home that Edelman’s selection did not contravene its rules on conflicts of interest.
But critics say the PR agency’s fossil fuel-related work alone should exclude it from undertaking media relations at the UN climate talks.
“Edelman has obvious conflicts of interest and is completely unsuited for a role at the climate talks,” said Duncan Meisel, executive director of Clean Creatives, a campaign group of PR professionals calling for agencies to stop working for fossil fuel clients.
Rachel Rose Jackson, director of climate research and policy at the NGO Corporate Accountability, said that “having a fossil fuel supporter and climate crisis enabler playing a key role in COP30 is egregious”.
“We are not going to save the planet with a snazzy PR spin,” she told Climate Home.
Edelman under fire
Calls are growing for public relations and advertising companies to stop promoting fossil fuel producers as the world battles to reduce carbon emissions. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, a vocal advocate of climate action, has described PR firms that work with fossil fuel companies as “Mad Men … fuelling the madness”.
Asked about Edelman’s appointment, a spokeswoman for Guterres said he reiterated his call to all PR and advertising companies to “stop taking on new fossil fuel clients and set out plans to drop your existing ones”.
Edelman, which renewed its global partnership with Shell last year, has repeatedly come under fire from climate campaigners for its long-standing association with the fossil fuel industry.
Banks told to dump fossil fuels to meet new net zero standard
Meisel said the firm’s messaging advice at COP30 could be compromised by its work with big polluters. “The COP presidency has no guarantee Edelman’s advice will be serving the interests of the planet,” he said.
Bronwen Tucker, public finance manager at Oil Change International, an advocacy group, called Edelman’s involvement in COP30 a “five-alarm conflict of interest”, adding “there is no firewall or contract clause strong enough” to prevent conflicting interests.
“Rigorous” selection process
Asked about such criticism, a spokesperson for Edelman said the company believed climate change was “the greatest crisis of our time, requiring bold solutions, collaboration, and innovation”.
“Edelman is committed to being part of the change by working with diverse clients, including energy companies, who have a vital role to play in the transition as affirmed at COP28 and in the UAE Consensus,” the spokesperson added, referring to the accord at the Dubai summit that called for transitioning away from fossil fuels.
The COP30 presidency defended Edelman’s appointment, saying in a statement that the firm met the desired criteria for the role and had won a “rigorous” selection process – carried out on Brazil’s behalf by UNDP with input from the presidency.
A UNDP spokesperson said Edelman’s proposal for the COP30 contract was found to be compliant with UNDP’s policies. The UN agency defines a conflict of interest as any situation in which a bidding company is involved in the preparation of the programme or project up for tender or any part of its procurement process – or is found to be “in conflict for any other reason”, as determined by UNDP.
Oil in the dock at Amazon COP
The world’s efforts to move away from fossil fuels – the main cause of global warming – will be one of the hottest issues on the agenda at COP30, dubbed the “Amazon COP” because it will be held on the edge of the rainforest in the city of Bélem.
To limit global warming to the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, no new oil and natural gas fields should be developed, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned in 2021.
But fossil fuel giants including Shell have not stopped expanding their drilling activities. Already the largest foreign oil and gas producer in Brazil, London-headquartered Shell is investing in new oil and gas production in the South American country.
In March, it gave the go-ahead for a vast offshore project off Rio de Janeiro that, at its peak, could increase Shell’s oil and gas output in Brazil by at least a quarter from current levels, and it acquired four new exploration blocks at an auction last month.
Meanwhile, the company announced this year that it would scrap solar and onshore wind projects in Brazil in line with a global strategy to renew its focus on fossil fuels.
Edelman’s COP30 dream team
Ana Julião, the award-winning Edelman executive who leads the firm’s Brazilian operations, is among half a dozen Edelman staffers assigned to the COP30 contract, according to the filing with the US Department of Justice (DoJ).
With almost three decades of experience, Julião’s online company profile highlights her expertise in helping promote companies, including Petrobras, Shell and Chevron, and protecting their reputations.
World’s top court opens door to compensation from countries responsible for climate crisis
Last year, she spoke at an event organised by the Brazilian Institute of Oil and Gas – an industry group – about PR’s role in “building and managing” businesses’ reputation on sustainability issues.
Edelman’s office in Brazil told Climate Home that Julião supervises the firm’s ongoing work with Shell.
Another Edelman executive signed up for the COP30 assignment worked on a contract in the past with the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oils Industries, known as Abiove, a soy business body. Abiove has been accused by environmental groups of seeking to weaken measures to prevent Amazon deforestation.
Multimillion-dollar COP deals for PR titans
Brazil is not the first COP host to tap the services of a global PR firm for a climate summit.
In 2023, Edelman was paid more than $3 million by the United Arab Emirates to support the COP28 presidency with managing media relations and – as one Edelman employee puts it – helping to “craft the UAE Consensus”.
Last year, Edelman competitor Teneo won a $5-million contract from Azerbaijan’s COP29 team to run its communications for the summit and devise a narrative highlighting the petrostate’s “role in the energy transition and climate action”.
In the run-up to the Bélem summit, Brazil’s government has also assigned a team of its own communications personnel to the COP30 operation. But, given their limited experience with international climate diplomacy, it became necessary to bring in backup with “specialised expertise”, according to documents seen by Climate Home.
COP30 president: Transition from fossil fuels can start without climate talks
UNDP stepped in to help find a suitable candidate as part of a wider partnership with the Brazilian government to provide support with “structuring and implementation” of its COP30 presidency. The UN agency put out a tender to hire a consultancy to help plan the presidency’s strategic communications and manage international press relations and social media content.
It said activities would include organising a strategy session to “consolidate the event’s central narrative”, producing speeches and press material, facilitating meetings with “key journalists” to position Brazil as a leader in the global climate debate, and promoting partnerships with NGOs, the private sector and “key negotiators”.
UNDP said the Brazilian presidency contributed to defining the terms of the PR agreement and was involved in the evaluation of the proposals. Edelman’s services will be paid for by the UN agency with resources coming from national and international donors, a spokesperson said.
Both the tender – and the resulting contract signed by Edelman – include provisions on preventing conflicts of interests, including disclosing to UNDP any situation that could either constitute a potential conflict of interest or could “reasonably be perceived” as one. The contract is available online as part of information filed with the US DoJ under disclosure rules.
Push to end fossil fuel influence
Brazilian campaigner Ilan Zugman, who is Latin America managing director at 350.org, said Edelman’s appointment is an example of how “social licence” helps prop up the fossil fuel industry by normalising its presence at climate summits despite being the biggest contributor to global warming.
“It’s a bit like that fable of the wolf in sheep’s clothing, slipping in to gain privileged access,” he added. “We need clearer policies on conflicts of interest, and society needs to start taking a stronger stand.”
A coalition of more than 450 organisations has been campaigning for the introduction of “an accountability framework” that clearly defines conflicts of interest for COP participants and prevents fossil fuel lobbyists from influencing the talks.
Corporate Accountability’s Jackson said “it doesn’t matter how many firewalls, protections, or other measures they may say are in place.”
“Thirty years of global climate talks have clearly shown that if COP30, or any future COP, is going to deliver meaningful action that will actually reduce emissions and keep fossil fuels in the ground, then we need to protect these talks from the undue influence of the big polluters and their conspirators,” she added.
