For those of you who don’t know, we’re big Rugby fans here at Just Enough Brave and we love the fact that at the time of writing this piece, we’re not far from the conclusion of this year’s exciting Rugby World Cup.
As you all no doubt know this Rugby World Cup is being played in France and the main sponsor this year is the French company Total Energies, which just so happens to be one of the biggest players in the fossil fuel industry. But don’t panic because they’ve produced a very slick short film about how they love rugby and how they’re not as bad as people think they are. To prove that very point, there are even electric cars and solar farms all over their promotional video. https://tinyurl.com/5dutkddr
But here’s the problem. When the final takes place on Saturday 28th October, the build-up and the match itself will take about three hours in total and during that time the fossil fuel industry will have pumped enough oil to fill the Stade de France, the very stadium that the event is taking place in. In fact, by the time the Webb Ellis trophy is handed over to the winners, the amount of oil produced would have been enough to spill over the top of the stadium and out onto the streets of Paris.
Most of us still need to use fossil fuels in some form or another but companies like Total Energies are using advertising and sponsorships to delay our motivation to tackle climate action. They are hijacking our climate concerns to promote their brands and deflect responsibility for climate change. It feels like a sleight of hand as these companies try to distract us with something shiny, somewhere else.
Isn’t it about time we used our collective voices to force the introduction of laws that would treat fossil fuels similarly to how tobacco advertising and sponsorships have been regulated?
So remember, don’t be taken in and fooled, and just try to be more conscious, there’s a reason why Total Energies is spending millions sponsoring this global event.