Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Lobbying, PR and greenwashing · United Kingdom · 2022

UK ad regulator bans HSBC '2 million trees' advert after 45 complaints

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 2 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

The Advertising Standards Authority banned an HSBC advert featuring a '2 million trees' claim in October 2022, after 45 complaints. The sanction was an advert ban, and the sources reviewed record no fine. For nature, the case concerns tree-based climate claims made by a major bank.

What?
The UK Advertising Standards Authority banned an HSBC advert featuring a '2 million trees' claim. Investment Monitor
Where?
United Kingdom Investment Monitor
When?
October 2022 Investment Monitor
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Complaint-based ruling by the advertising regulator; the sanction was an advert ban. Investment Monitor
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who

What happened

The record, in order.

The UK Advertising Standards Authority banned an HSBC advert featuring a '2 million trees' claim in October 2022 (Investment Monitor, 25 October 2022).

The ruling followed 45 complaints (Investment Monitor, 2022).

The sanction was an advert ban, and no fine is recorded in the sources reviewed (Investment Monitor, 2022).

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the ruling turned on HSBC's omission of its fossil fuel financing.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: a second HSBC slogan referring to '1 trillion dollars' of transition finance.
    • None on record Not reached: the ASA ruling text itself; the sources reviewed do not give the ruling reference.
    • None on record Not stated in the sources reviewed: whether HSBC changed other advertising after the ban.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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