Comedian Joe Lycett will take on the troubling corporate practice of greenwashing in a new film for Channel 4 called Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant.
Having previously fought for the rights of consumers in Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back, Lycett will now confront the companies exaggerating their environmental credentials for marketing purposes.
The film will air ahead of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, which starts on 31st October 2021.
Lycett will focus on the energy giant Shell and their marketing as they continue to search for new oil reserves.
In May 2021, the International Energy Agency published a report that outlined a plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050, including a call for an end to the exploration and development of new oil fields.
That same month, the District Court in The Hague judged that Shell’s parent company, Royal Dutch Shell, currently “disregards its individual responsibility” to reduce its overall emissions. It ordered the group to start reducing them by 45% by 2030, but they confirmed in July 2021 that they will appeal the ruling.
Lycett will set out to hold Shell to account, meeting experts and campaigners on both sides of the debate, before making an “advert” of his own concerning their practices and attempting to air it on primetime TV.
Lycett said: “The things I’ve learned making this documentary have been shocking.
“Expect sarcastic Twitter exchanges, Hollywood stars, me being confronted by some big burly security guards, and a spoof advert depicting the CEO of one of the biggest polluters on earth doing something truly disgusting.”
Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant will air on Channel 4 later in October 2021 as part of Climate Change programming slate.
