Equinor, Norway’s state-owned oil and gas giant, is now targeting children with its latest PR project, a game called Energy Town, designed for use in British classrooms. The oil company finances the game, which is marketed as an “educational” tool to teach kids about energy systems. The game allows players to build a city, powered by different energy sources, such as wind farms, hydroelectric dams and oil platforms. The aim is to keep the city going until 2050.
Behind the colorful graphics and simplified logic lies a deeply troubling agenda: to normalize fossil fuel production for a generation that will inherit the worst impacts of the climate crisis. The game is created to make school children in the UK more positive to the oil and gas industry and to show that fossil fuels can be a green energy mix.
This is part of a wider trend: fossil fuel companies around the world are spending millions on youth outreach, school programs, and “green” campaigns, all while continuing to invest heavily in oil and gas.
But branding exercises don’t change the facts that Equinor:
- Is Norway’s largest climate polluter.
- Continues to explore new oil and gas fields in the midst of a climate and nature crisis.
- Actively lobbies to delay stronger climate policies and a transition away from fossil fuels.
Trying to win over young minds thinking oil and gas is good for the climate and is part of a green energy mix through games is not responsible energy education, it’s propaganda. And it’s designed to soften criticism and build long-term social acceptance for a business model that science tells us must be phased out.
The children growing up today will live through the consequences of today’s energy decisions. And that means more devastating extreme weather, such as intense heat waves, torrential rain and wildfires.
Allowing fossil fuel producers into classrooms with their own “educational” tools undermines trust, truth, and the urgency of climate action. It’s not just problematic, it’s dangerous.
This game doesn’t just distort what climate scientists are calling for, no new oil and gas fields, it also undermines the UK’s own climate efforts and goals. As the country works to meet its net zero targets, allowing Equinor to use school programs as a vehicle for fossil fuel propaganda directly contradicts those efforts.
Equinor must stop drilling for new oil and gas, and start telling the truth about the damage the fossil fuel industry continues to cause.