Oil giant BP fills Westminster station with misleading ads
This blog was originally published on the Adfree Cities website. Adfree Cities has submitted a complaint about BP’s “Our contribution to the UK economy” adverts to the UK regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority. You can read the complaint here.
BP “Our contribution to the UK economy” adverts in Westminster tube station, October 2026
What do the following events have in common?
The UN says a breach of the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C limit is now “inevitable” following “decades of insufficient climate action”.
The prime minister advises the public to stock up on tinned food and bottled water, and the country faces back-to-back storms and power outages.
A report into the escalating risks of UK wildfires is published, after MPs were told firefighters struggled for water supplies during this year’s record summer.
The UK Government approves a controversial gas field in the North Sea.
BP ads spotted in Westminster tube station
They all happened in the same week that BP ads, claiming that the firm is “driving UK economic resilience”, were plastered throughout the corridors of Westminster tube station, frequently used by MPs and policymakers en route to Parliament.
We have reported BP’s ads to the UK’s advertising regulator, the ASA. We allege that these claims are misleading, including by overstating BP’s provision of jobs and its support to the UK economy. The ads fail to mention the company’s major contribution to climate change, one of the most severe threats to the UK’s economic resilience.
Does BP really “drive UK economic resilience?”
BP is the UK’s second largest historic emitter. In 2025, BP cut its renewable energy investments and instead resumed its focus on increasing oil and gas production. The economic shocks people in the UK are experiencing right now, and those on the horizon, are a result of our reliance on fossil fuels. The threat imposed by BP’s contribution to climate change further outweighs the narrow benefit offered by the company’s supply chains.
BP “Driving UK economic resilience” advert in Westminster tube station, October 2026
Even in purely financial terms, fossil fuels are a major threat to the UK economy. The London School of Economics calculated that a single heatwave in June 2026 cost the UK more than £1 billion in lost output, not including the substantial burden on healthcare provision. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that over the next 50 years, total potential direct fiscal costs to the UK resulting from heatwaves could be £64 billion, if temperatures are kept below 3°C.
There’s no wonder it wants prime position in our political narrative during budget week. Placing ads in Westminster tube station is a way to reach the eyes of hundreds of MPs, civil servants and political influencers who pass through everyday.
BP “£10.8bn contribution to UK GDP” advert in Westminster tube station, October 2026
Influencing policymakers with misleading figures
According to research by DeSmog, between 2018-2024, Transport for London hosted more than 240 advertising campaigns by oil and gas companies. They found that in 2022 and 2023, BP, Shell, SSE, British Gas, EDF, and Offshore Energies UK targeted their campaigns specifically at Westminster or St. James’s Park tube stations. These stations have a high footfall of politicians, political advisors, and civil servants.
As well as omitting the climate-elephant in the room, BP’s most recent Westminster adverts are misleading for further reasons:
They state that BP “paid and collected” £3.4 billion in taxes in the UK. However, only 35% of this figure was paid by BP, with £2.2 billion paid entirely by others, including fuel duty, income tax, and VAT.
Out of the “~630,000” jobs the ads claim BP supports, only 22% of these were directly employed by BP. The rest come from other companies, where it is not clear if these jobs are even reliant on BP or whether they would still exist otherwise.
What can you do?
You can use our complaint to submit your own to the Advertising Standards Authority, here:
You can write to your MP asking them to support a fossil fuel ad ban here: