Omnicom and WPP tops Clean Creatives’ 2026 F-List as fossil fuel contracts hit record high

Advertising and PR agencies’ ties to the fossil fuel industry have reached a record high, according to Clean Creatives’ latest F-List research, which has identified 1,321 contracts between fossil fuel companies and agencies worldwide.

The 2026 edition of the annual research, which tracks publicly identified relationships between the fossil fuel industry and the communications sector, found that 386 fossil fuel companies across 73 countries engaged 802 advertising and PR agencies during 2025 and 2026.

Clean Creatives has also expanded the F-List into an interactive database for the first time, allowing users to explore agency profiles, compare data and examine the reported connections between agencies and fossil fuel companies.

Don't miss: Edelman and Omnicom top Clean Creatives’ 2025 F-List for fossil fuel ties 

To launch the resource, the campaign group has released a short film that takes viewers into a fictional agency video call as its CEO, head of communications, client services director and executive assistant discover that their agency has appeared on the F-List.

The film uses the fictional workplace scenario to explore the tension around agencies working with fossil fuel clients, while the interactive database provides a more detailed view of the relationships identified in the research.

Holding companies under scrutiny

The research found that 303 of the 1,321 contracts, or 23%, sit within major advertising and PR holding companies, while 1,018, or 77%, are held by independent agencies.

According to the research, Omnicom recorded the highest number of holding-company contracts at 118, following its merger with IPG in 2025. Clean Creatives identified relationships with fossil fuel companies including BP, Chevron, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Shell and Saudi Aramco across the group's agencies. TBWA alone was identified with 20 fossil fuel contracts.

WPP followed with 88 contracts, including work for Shell through Wunderman Thompson, as well as contracts involving BP, Equinor, ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco.

Publicis recorded 34 contracts, including multi-year relationships with Chevron, Saudi Aramco, RWE and TotalEnergies. Dentsu had 24, with relationships including Chevron, Shell and Tokyo Gas, while Havas recorded 22 contracts.

Stagwell was identified with nine contracts, while DJE Holdings, Edelman's parent company, had eight.

Clean Creatives said 497 of the 1,321 contracts were newly identified in the 2026 research, accounting for 38% of the total. The report also found that 325 contracts, or almost a quarter of the total, involved nine major oil companies: BP, Chevron, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Petronas, Saudi Aramco, Shell and TotalEnergies.

The research also examined the narratives used in fossil fuel advertising and communications across different markets. It identified recurring themes including national pride and community partnership in South America and the Middle East, prosperity and freedom in the US, energy security and economic investment in the EU, and brand loyalty, family values and CSR initiatives in Asia and Africa.

Laura Ranzato, executive director of Clean Creatives, said the research comes as agencies face increasing pressure to consider the implications of working with fossil fuel companies.

“With a Godzilla El Niño on the horizon, wildfire smoke and record heatwaves already impacting marketing budgets across industries and increasing risk to advertising revenues and long-term profits, agencies face a real choice,” she said.

Nayantara Dutta, head of research at Clean Creatives, added that many of the relationships identified in the latest edition had not previously been publicly reported.

“In six years of research, we have found continued evidence that agencies are nowhere close to giving up their fossil fuel contracts,” she said.

Alongside the F-List, Clean Creatives said more than 1,650 agencies and 4,600 creatives worldwide have signed its pledge to refuse contracts from fossil fuel organisations.

The organisation will formally release the F-List 2026 during Climate Week NYC on 21 September, alongside Carmack Productions' Slick, an absurdist workplace comedy series centred on employees at a PR agency working to promote Big Oil.

In a June 2025 whitepaper, "Profitable growth without fossil fuels", Clean Creatives estimated that the 29 largest oil and gas majors spend around US$7 billion annually across media, creative advertising and PR, with PR alone accounting for US$2.7 billion a year between 2021 and 2023.

The organisation has argued that while fossil fuel clients remain a significant source of agency revenue, agencies face growing reputational, talent and commercial risks as brands and procurement teams place greater emphasis on sustainability.

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