Ad industry’s work with fossil fuel companies shows no sign of slowing. That’s the takeaway from Clean Creatives’ fifth annual F-List, which tracks advertising and PR agencies’ relationships with oil, gas and coal clients.
The 2025 edition reveals 1,217 active or recent contracts across 709 agencies worldwide, a record number in the report’s five-year history. 275 of these contracts originate in APAC, that’s 22% of the global total and a 26% year-on-year increase. APAC is the third-largest region for fossil fuel agency work, behind Europe (312 contracts) and North America (277).
Australia is by far the region’s epicentre, with 156 contracts, more than half of APAC’s total. Other markets include India (53), New Zealand (14), Indonesia (9), and Malaysia (9).
Recent oil and gas signings from APAC include:
Australia
GRACosway (part of GRA Partners) with Alinta Energy
CMAX Advisory on BP
Font Public Relations with Tasmanian Gas Pipeline
Topham Guerin contracted to Australians for Natural Gas and the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA)
SBS CulturalConnect taking on AGL Energy
India
India is the second-biggest market in the region with 53 contracts. F-list highlights the following relationships:
Ogilvy India with Jio-BP
Havas Media Network India and Havas Play with Nayara Energy
Adfactors PR with Bharat Petroleum (BPCL)
Elsewhere in the region
Nano Digital in Malaysia with Oil and Gas Asia
DWGN (Don’t Worry Good Night) in Korea with KEPCO
TaProd Group in Thailand with Shell
Rothman & Roman Group in Japan with the Japan Energy Summit & Exhibition
Omnicom leads on volume, Edelman on risk
At a global level, Omnicom Advertising Group holds the largest number of fossil fuel contracts (120), followed by WPP (82) and Publicis (34). Other holding groups with exposure include Dentsu (18), Havas (18) and Stagwell (11). Meanwhile, a whopping 924 contracts belong to independent agencies, many operating in APAC.
McCann Worldgroup has the most fossil fuel contracts (15) on its roster. Its parent IPG was recently called out for ignoring its 2022 climate pledge to work with Saudi Aramco. Others with sizeable oil and gas clients include FTI Consulting 13), Burson (13), SEC Newgate (12), Ogilvy (11), CGCN Group (10), Edelman (10), GRACosway (10), Publicis (10), TBWA (10), and IPG Mediabrands (10).
Revenue reliance
The report also breaks down the revenue of agencies from fossil fuel contracts. Edelman tops the list, with 5.64% of its global income tied to clients such as Shell, Chevron, and AdNoc. Next in line is WPP at 0.68%, followed by Omnicom (0.55%), Havas (0.38%), Stagwell (0.28%), Publicis (0.22%), and Dentsu (0.15%).
Clean Creatives calls out Edelman’s level of dependency on fossil fuel contracts as a direct conflict with the shop’s new role advising the COP30 climate summit in Brazil.
“Globally, fossil fuel advertising and PR makes up less than 1% of global marketing spend, while Edelman relies on polluters for more than 5% of their revenue,’ said Duncan Meisel, executive director of Clean Creatives. “There is literally no agency worse suited for a role at COP30. If the UN climate talks succeed in their goal, Edelman faces an existential threat to their revenue - that’s the definition of a conflict of interest.”
For oil and gas storytelling styles, the report says campaigns in APAC lean heavily on emotional appeals and human-centred storytelling.
“A recurring theme in APAC is the importance of human connection, which portrays fossil fuel companies as brands that care,” said Audrey Yang, Clean Creatives’ Asia lead. “If these companies truly cared about societal well-being, they would have spent more time and money on transitioning to clean energy instead of spending it with agencies to promote false solutions.”
While fossil fuel retainers continue to grow, so does opposition. More than 1,400 agencies worldwide have now signed the Clean Creatives pledge to refuse fossil fuel contracts, along with 3,700+ individual creatives, dozens of brands, and a growing roster of influencers.
