Jamie Henn, the founder of Fossil Fuel Free Media, on how advertising agencies help legitimise the fossil fuel industry

Jamie Henn, a co-founder of the climate group 350.org, had for a long time noticed a gap in climate advocacy that many had overlooked: while the fossil fuel industry pours money into ad campaigns, much of the climate movement simply doesn’t have the resources to do that work.

Inspired to change that, Henn launched Fossil Free Media to give public relations and communications support to grassroots groups taking on the fossil fuel industry and campaigning for climate justice.

Fossil Free Media is also trying to change the wider PR and advertising industry through its Clean Creatives campaign, pressuring agencies to break their ties with the fossil fuel industry.

Henn spoke with the Guardian about the power of communications, why we’ve entered an era of true climate greenwashing, and the damage advertising firms can cause.