It has long been clear that tackling the Climate Crisis relies on citizens having access to verified information that educates them not only about the severity of the crisis, but also offers clear steps that they can take to play a role in tackling this global issue while there is still time.

Sadly, media reporting of the Climate Crisis outside environmental editors and green-focused publications has been consistently poor, as exemplified this week by national broadcaster RTE labelling high temperatures in North America as a “heatwave” – rather than informing its viewers that this is part of a consistently rising average temperature that has resulted from the human-caused Climate Crisis.

While the broader media has a lot of work to do to address this shortfall, the situation is compounded in the automotive press, which consistently overlooks the issue of the Climate Crisis, and has repeatedly published misinformation from manufacturers about EVs and emissions – as exemplified by the Astongate scandal in 2020.

Today, we look at Autocar – one of the world’s largest motoring publications, which is widely syndicated across the broader press – to assess their record on reporting the relationship between cars and the Climate Crisis.

Lack of accountability

According to the European Environment Agency, the transport sector accounts for nearly 30% of the EU’s total CO2 emissions, of which 60.7% comes from cars. This is broadly reflective of CO2 emissions worldwide.

As such, switching to EVs – and moving away from cars entirely by promoting public transport use and active travel, such as cycling and walking – is crucial for lowering our collective emissions and addressing the implications of CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions produced by cars.

In order to gain an understanding of how the automotive industry is reporting on this issue, we reviewed every news article posted by Autocar on their website between 1st-29th June 2021, searching specifically for the words “Emissions” and “Climate Crisis/Climate Change”.

“You should make a beeline for a diesel. Any diesel, because buyers too silly to avoid them and sellers underpricing what they have is a situation to exploit” - Autocar, June 2021

Worse still, a quick glance at the comments section beneath articles will show that users are consistently posting comments which include climate change denial. Repeatedly failing to educate readers about the Climate Crisis, and the role that cars play in it, creates a vacuum in which this misinformation can thrive.

Detached From Consequence

It isn’t just the lack of context around emissions that is troubling in Autocar’s content.

In the midst of rising deaths from air pollution, rising global temperatures, and cataclysmic wildfires caused by the Climate Crisis sweeping North America, Autocar chose to publish an article entitled “Diesel MPVs are top of the stock”.

The heavily article advocates that readers buy a diesel car without once mentioning the harmful emissions that these vehicles produce, nor the role they play in worsening the Climate Crisis or public health.

1)      Looking at the 236 articles published so far in June, just 2% mention the Climate Crisis/Climate Change – both based on press releases. Does Autocar not think it important to acknowledge the role of cars in worsening the Climate Crisis?

2)      When discussing emissions – as in your recent articles on clean air zones – why does Autocar chose not to include information on why lowering emissions is important for improving the Climate Crisis, ecology loss and human health?

3)      As Editor, how do you feel about the prevalence of climate change denial in your comments section?

4)      Will Autocar be reviewing its approach to better reflect the role of cars in worsening the Climate Crisis, and seek to better inform its readers about this in the future?

Cars: The New Tobacco

Without an automotive press holding car manufacturers accountable for emissions and their role in the Climate Crisis – and consistently failing to inform readers about this relationship – Autocar is complicit in worsening the situation.

Given their size, they have a platform to call out the industry and push for better standards without fear of repercussions from manufacturers. They will still receive cars to review regardless of whether they are negative about them.

However, the current situation is reminiscent of how the tobacco industry operated before sweeping bans on advertising were implemented in the early 2000s.

They were not only allowed to make audacious claims that had no scientific basis, but were continually empowered by the media to make false statements about the negative impacts of tobacco on health. Failure to inform led to rises in cancer rates and, ultimately, deaths.

Failing to report truthfully on the Climate Crisis – and the major factors contributing to it – will do the same.

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