AA green group to back car trade

The Advertising Association (AA) is planning to set up a focus group on climate change to convince politicians and lobby groups about green commitments made by the automobile and energy industries.

The new group aims to engage with the industries that are most likely to be seen as the purveyors of global warming.

It continues the AA’s drive against the increasing threat of restrictions on advertising. The association is already in the throes of planning a high-profile publicity campaign to promote the “positive” role of advertising, to protect “advertising freedoms” (MW June 21).

AA chief executive Baroness Peta Buscombe says: “The focus group will look at protecting the freedom to advertise for the car and the energy sectors, which could be under threat from those who see these industries as contributing to global warming.”

Buscombe adds that the focus group will also look at educating these businesses in the development of sustainable business models so that they can become part of the solution for climate change. She adds: “I am trying to promote advertising as a powerful force for good.”

The climate change initiative is one of the many projects being considered by the AA, which is also in the process of restructuring. The details are still being worked out.