As the United Nations Climate Summit COP27 has come to a close in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh, the conference’s key aim of ensuring full adherence to the Paris Agreement is unlikely to be fulfilled. Since last year’s COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, ‘only 29 out of 194 countries came forward with tightened national plans,’ a UN press release stated.

Yet, while most members are making some efforts to cap climate change, the Gulf Cooperation states have focused on the need for a two-pronged approach to climate — focusing on both oil and green energy — amid rising energy demand following the war in Ukraine and the nations’ reliance on energy exports as a mainstay of their economics.

Like other industries, environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria are also of legitimate importance for PR practitioners. Proximity to questionable corporate or political actors, child labour, environmental malpractice, and other issues, have profound implications for business and the wider profession. The expected ideal response is for agencies to distance themselves from such clients. But is walking away always the most sensible action to take? PR firms’ engagement with the fossil fuel sector, and calls to cut these ties, provide food for thought.