Energy Saving Trust Ltd 21 Dartmouth Street London SW1H 9BP Number of complaints: 3

Date: 9 January 2008 Media: Regional press, National press, Internet Sector: Non-commercial Agency: COI Communications

Ad
A regional press, national press and Internet ad for the Energy Saving Trust (EST) showed a photograph of factory cooling towers emitting fumes alongside a factory; a street of houses stood in the foreground.  Text superimposed onto the photograph stated "Almost half the UK's carbon dioxide emissions which cause climate change ... are actually down to us".  Continuing text beneath the photograph stated "Leaving the TV on standby for instance, or using the car for short journeys, wastes energy and results in needless carbon dioxide emissions.  If we all commit to save 20% of the energy we use every day, together we can help prevent climate change ...".

Issue
1. One complainant challenged whether EST could substantiate that virtually half of the UK's total carbon dioxide emissions were caused by human actions; and

2. Two complainants believed the claim "Almost half the UK's carbon dioxide emissions which cause climate change are actually down to us" misleadingly suggested that carbon dioxide emissions, generated by humans, were responsible for climate change.

The CAP Code:

3.1;7.1;49.3;49.1

Response
1.  EST said the source of the claim "Almost half the UK's carbon dioxide emissions ... are actually down to us" was the e-Digest of Environmental Statistics, published in August 2006 on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) website.  They submitted a spreadsheet, which demonstrated that residential carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, plus CO2 emissions from domestic road transport, equated to 43.3% of the UK's total CO2 emissions in 2004; they argued that this was almost half of the UK's overall emissions.

EST explained that they had never intended the headline claim to refer to the total amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, incorporating CO2 emitted from both natural and man-made sources, but only to CO2 emitted from human sources.  They said the text "the UKs carbon dioxide emissions which cause climate change ..." clarified that they referred only to man-made CO2 emissions, because CO2 generated indirectly by humans, not naturally occurring CO2, was generally understood to be a source of climate change.   

2.  EST referred to a document from the Department of Trade and Industry (dti), "Energy White Paper, A Summary", which stated " ... Without action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the earth's temperature is likely to rise faster than at any time in the last 10,000 years or more ... the worst effects of climate change can be avoided if greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are stabilised instead of being allowed to increase ...".  In addition, they said supporting evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated " ... We know that increased need and use of energy from fossil fuels, and other human activities, contribute in large part to increases in greenhouse gases associated with the warming of the earth's surface.  While uncertainties remain in our understanding of climate science, we know enough to act now to put ourselves on a path to slow and, as science justifies, stop and reverse the growth of greenhouse gases ...".  They said other sources, including the G8, UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP), the German Embassy and Learning and Teaching Scotland stated that the emission of greenhouse gases was a contributing factor to the rise of global temperatures and climate change.  They also submitted a paper, compiled by the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry in 2007, entitled "Scientific Response to 'The Great Global Warming Swindle'"; the paper presented a summary of current scientific opinion on the question of whether CO2, released by human activity, was the cause of rising global temperatures.  The assessment discussed a correlation between increased greenhouse gas concentration and global warming and concluded that a paper due to be published later in 2007 would confirm that human activities were responsible for current global warming.

EST said it was certain that the combustion of fossil fuels was a cause of CO2 emissions, that tropospheric CO2 concentrations were increasing and that such changes had caused warming of the climate system.  They said the remaining uncertainty related to the precise scale of human influence relative to natural factors, not to whether human-induced greenhouse gas emissions had an effect or not.

Assessment
1.  Not upheld
The ASA noted the ad included the claim "Almost half the UK's carbon dioxide emissions which cause climate change ... are actually down to us", together with images of both industrial and domestic sources of CO2 emissions, and further text that stated "Leaving the TV on standby ... or using the car for short journeys, wastes energy and results in needless carbon dioxide emissions ...".  We considered that the ad showed a contrast between industrial and domestic CO2 consumption and implied approximately half of the current CO2 emissions generated by the UK were from domestic sources.  We considered that the ad was unlikely to be seen as referring to the UKs total CO2 emissions, incorporating CO2 emitted from both natural and man made sources.

We noted the evidence submitted in support of the claim was based on Defra figures that were collated in 2004 but published in 2006 and, at the time the ad was published, were the most up-to-date figures available.  We also noted the figure quoted in the report under the heading "Consumer emissions (excl domestic aviation)" was 43.3% and noted EST had assumed the value to be "almost half" in their ad; we considered it was reasonable to describe 43.3% as "almost half".  

We understood the figures were updated annually and, as of March 2007, a new set of figures had been published, which demonstrated that residential emissions had decreased from the previous year (2004).  Regardless, we considered that, because EST had substantiated that, according to the most current information available when the ad appeared, 43.3% of the UK's CO2 emissions were from domestic sources, we concluded that the claim "Almost half the UK's carbon dioxide emissions which cause climate change ... are actually down to us" was unlikely to mislead.  We reminded EST, however, that if they intended to repeat the claim in future marketing, it should be amended to reflect the most up-to-date data available.

2.  Not upheld
We understood that EST had intended the ad to convey the message that greenhouse gases, including CO2, contributed to climate change and also that, by monitoring domestic CO2 emissions, individuals could make a difference.

We considered that the claim "Almost half the UK's carbon dioxide emissions which cause climate change ... are actually down to us" implied CO2 emissions contributed to global warming and climate change and that a proportion of those emissions were caused by human actions.  We considered that readers were unlikely to infer from the ad that CO2 emissions were solely responsible for global warming and climate change.

We understood that it was widely accepted that CO2 emissions did make some contribution towards global warming and climate change, although a precise measure of that contribution was difficult to ascertain.  

We also understood that the ad's purpose was to raise awareness about energy waste and encourage readers to reduce their carbon emissions and considered that the claim "Almost half the UK's carbon dioxide emissions which cause climate change ... are actually down to us" was unlikely to materially mislead readers about the cause or nature of climate change, which, we noted scientific opinion largely accepted, was exacerbated by CO2 emissions.      

On points 1 and 2, we investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 49.1 and 49.3 (Environmental claims) but did not find it in breach.

Action
No action necessary.


Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)