our achievements over the years
Key change we’ve created
In 2026, the Advertising Regulatory Board upheld the following complaints we submitted:
Environmental claims made by CNG Holdings and its NGV Gas division.
Environmental claims made in TotalEnergies South Africa’s advertising for its Excellium Diesel D10 product.
Claims made on Shell South Africa’s website promoting ‘sustainable fuels’ and ‘innovative fuels and lubricants’, where fossil fuel products were marketed using environmental and sustainability-linked language. Shell has made the decision to withdraw this series of environmental advertising from their website.
Earlier in April 2026, our Fossil Ad Ban campaign co-hosted their first ever workshops with traditional leaders and communities in the Eastern Cape, following their 2025 frontline community workshops in Carolina, Mpumalanga.
In 2025, Alkemi Collective became Africa’s first creative agency to endorse our Fossil Ad Ban campaign, which calls for a nationwide ban on all coal, oil and gas advertisements in a bid to help address the climate crisis by shifting public perception.
In December 2024, our landmark greenwashing complaint against some of TotalEnergies’ many greenwashing claims was upheld by SA’s Advertising Regulatory Board after Total had appealed its initial verdict.
By 2024, our Clean Creatives South Africa campaign had helped 57 advertising and PR agencies pledge, over the past two years, to cease or refuse any work from the fossil fuel industry.
In 2022, the University of Cape Town became the first major university in Africa and the global South to pledge divestment, following our nine-year campaign with students.
We advised on and supported the creation in 2021 of South Africa’s only fossil-free equity fund, the BCI Select ESG Equity Fund, which excludes Sasol and all thermal coal, and has outperformed its benchmark for over three years.
Our lobbying, with the endorsement of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, successfully pushed the University of Cape Town to become the first African university with a responsible investment committee in 2018.
In 2017, the City of Cape Town pledged to stop investment in fossil fuels following our campaigning together with 350 Africa.
Change we’re creating
We’re lobbying many stakeholders in South African society to support the principle of a fossil fuel advertising ban.
We’re continuing our work with students at UCT and Stellenbosch universities to expose the deep-rooted influence of the fossil fuel industry on SA academia.
Our Clean Creatives SA F-list reports identify and stigmatise the advertising and public relations professionals who work to greenwash the fossil fuel industry.
Our 2024 workshops on the Middle East conflict and the genocide in Gaza illuminated the links between climate change, colonialism, apartheid, militarism, fossil fuels and threats to fundamental human rights.
We held successful workshops on divestment for asset managers in 2017 and, in partnership with the UN-supported Principle for Responsible Investment, for retirement funds in 2019.
We were one of the lead organisers on the September 2019 Financing the Future Conference, the first global divestment conference in the Global South.
Our Planet A Investment Guide is the only guide to fossil-free, green and socially responsible investment for South Africans.
Our Climate Reporting Guides for South African and African journalists promote more informed and thoughtful reporting on the climate crisis.
We’ve built up a substantial body of expertise and connections on the climate, finance and responsible investment nexus in South Africa.
We’ve developed a strong track record of getting challenges to the fossil fuel industry into the media.