Global public relations giant Edelman has lost at least four executives and at least two clients because of its “unwillingness to take a strong stand on climate change,” The Guardian reported last week.
The staffers worked in Edelman’s Business
and Social Purpose practice and included the executives who ran units in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. On the client side, the We Mean Business corporate climate coalition “terminated a contract with Edelman last fall after controversy arose over the firm’s work for fossil fuel industry clients,” The Guardian notes, and Nike “declined to use Edelman on a climate-related project.” Unilever is also reviewing its relationship with the firm.
While CEO Richard Edelman speaks frequently on his firm’s work for corporate sustainability initiatives, “the company’s formal position on climate change is more ambiguous,” Gunther writes. A survey by the Climate Investigations Center identified a cluster of Edelman clients that promote the coal industry and oppose client regulation.
While CEO Edelman responded with a promise not to accept assignments that support climate denial, nothing in the statement prevents the firm “from advising fossil fuel clients on campaigns to oppose climate regulation, or to support projects such as Shell’s Arctic drilling or the exploitation of the Canadian tar sands that would make the climate problem worse,” The Guardian notes. “Edelman says only that its clients must commit to ‘fact-based, truthful, and transparent communications.’”
