Car ads to carry climate information
June 30, 2008
Car advertisements on billboards and in magazines will now have to carry information on individual cars' climate impacts.
The Government agreed to change its advertising guidelines in response to the threat of legal proceedings by the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s and Friends of the Earth. The change of policy came following a legal letter to the Department for Transport (DfT) from Friends of the Earth's Rights and Justice Centre, acting for the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s.
The green organisations wrote to the DfT in March 2008 claiming that the UK was not abiding with EU law and threatening to issue Judicial Review proceedings if the guidance was not changed.
The argument hinged on the interpretation by the DfT of the EU Directive which governs car advertising, and says that fuel economy and carbon dioxide emissions information must be prominently provided in all promotional literature.
However, the Government has until now exempted "primarily graphical" adverts from the law with the effect that most billboard adverts did not include information about the carbon dioxide emissions of cars.
As a result of the DfT’s change in policy, the fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions of vehicles will now have to be prominently displayed, giving consumers the information they need to choose a greener vehicle — and one that needs to be filled up with fuel less often.
Commenting on the new requirements, Blake Ludwig of the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s, said, "From now on, it won't be enough to woo consumers with a sleek and sexy image of a car in billboard ads — car advertisers will need to give real and readable facts about the car's fuel economy and environmental impact. With rising fuel costs and a growing awareness about climate change, this information is crucially important for people to make greener and cheaper choices of vehicle."
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