A 2,900% Increase in Greenwash: Big Oil Targeted Brazil With Google Ads To Undermine COP30

The briefing reports a significant increase in Google Ads by oil companies globally and specifically in Brazil leading up to COP30 in November 2025. It highlights that while global oil ads spiked by 218% in October 2025, ads targeting Brazil increased by 2,900%, with Petrobras accounting for nearly 70% of these. The document argues that these campaigns are part of a broader disinformation strategy to secure a 'social licence' for continued fossil fuel investment, contrasting public 'green' narratives with actual investment patterns and environmental records. It recommends increased regulatory intervention, including a potential ban on fossil fuel advertising similar to tobacco regulations.

• Global advertising by oil companies on Google Ads experienced a sharp increase in October 2025, rising by 218% compared to September, with the total number of ads growing from 1,939 to 6,384.
• Advertising targeting Brazil saw a 2,900% increase from January to October 2025, growing from 9 to 270 ads, with approximately 80% of these published between July and October.
• Petrobras is the dominant advertiser in Brazil, representing nearly 70% of total Google Ads in the country with 665 ads published in 2025.
• Major global oil companies showed significant month-on-month increases in Google Ads during October 2025: BP increased by 1,369.2%, Saudi Aramco by 469.2%, ExxonMobil by 156.3%, and TotalEnergies by 106.5%.
• There is a stark disparity between the public image of oil companies and their financial investments; in the ten years following the Paris Agreement, US$8.7 trillion was invested in oil and gas, while only US$113 billion (1.4%) went to renewable energy, CCUS, and storage.
• Petrobras's 'green' advertising campaign in 2025 coincided with its pursuit of oil exploration in the Amazon; after the license was awarded in October, public support for exploration in the region rose from 26% in September to 42%.
• The document suggests that self-regulation by Big Tech is insufficient, noting that Google continued to run ads on YouTube videos containing climate misinformation despite a 2021 ban on monetizing denialist content.

APA

Climate Action Against Disinformation (n.d.). A 2,900% Increase in Greenwash: Big Oil Targeted Brazil With Google Ads To Undermine COP30. https://caad.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/A-2900-Increase-in-Greenwash_-Big-Oil-Targeted-Brazil-With-Google-Ads-To-Undermine-COP30.pdf

Chicago

Climate Action Against Disinformation. A 2,900% Increase in Greenwash: Big Oil Targeted Brazil With Google Ads To Undermine COP30. n.d. https://caad.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/A-2900-Increase-in-Greenwash_-Big-Oil-Targeted-Brazil-With-Google-Ads-To-Undermine-COP30.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Action Against Disinformation |title=A 2,900% Increase in Greenwash: Big Oil Targeted Brazil With Google Ads To Undermine COP30 |url=https://caad.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/A-2900-Increase-in-Greenwash_-Big-Oil-Targeted-Brazil-With-Google-Ads-To-Undermine-COP30.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateactionagainstdisinformationnd2900, author = {{Climate Action Against Disinformation}}, title = {{A 2,900\% Increase in Greenwash: Big Oil Targeted Brazil With Google Ads To Undermine COP30}}, institution = {Climate Action Against Disinformation}, url = {https://caad.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/A-2900-Increase-in-Greenwash_-Big-Oil-Targeted-Brazil-With-Google-Ads-To-Undermine-COP30.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }