Oxfam’s Climate Justice Campaign, by Eleven, won Gold in Social Purpose Sustainability at The Drum Awards, aiming to push the UK government to tax luxury transport to fund climate action. The campaign’s strategy leveraged satire to engage audiences, achieving 83% of its signature target and prompting a policy change, raising £605-780 million annually for climate action.
Oxfam’s Climate Justice Campaign set out to tackle one of the starkest inequalities of our time: the wealthiest 1% cause the greatest climate damage, yet contribute the least to solutions for the climate damage they cause. In 2022 alone, private jets in the UK emitted over half a million tonnes of CO₂, the highest in Europe, while globally the richest 10% of people produce half of all emissions.
The campaign’s main objective was to push the UK government to introduce taxes on luxury transport, specifically private jets and superyachts, to generate public funds directly for climate action at home and abroad. Analysis by Oxfam showed such a tax could raise between £605–780 million annually.
The charity sought a strategy-led creative agency to bring the campaign to life visually, with a hero film and supporting digital assets designed to drive engagement, discussion, and most importantly - action. The engagement objective was to secure 40,000 signatures on an open letter to the Chancellor within 6 months. We have achieved 83% of this target with a month to spare setting us on track to hit our target.
Our challenge was to make what could be seen as technical tax reform into a mass-participation issue. Our research revealed two key themes supported by behavioral insight:
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We knew we needed a fresh, provocative approach that would cut through, energize, and demand action. We reframed the complex issue not as technical tax reform, but something so self-evident even a child could understand the unfairness. By stripping away jargon and focusing on fairness, we promoted a sustainable choice people could rally behind: make those who are most responsible pay more.
The communication journey was designed to move audiences from thought to action making them think ‘this tax should be introduced’, then to feel indignant and motivated. We wanted them to engage by signing the open letter, putting pressure on the government to act.
During development, a fatal yacht accident made national headlines, the sinking of the superyacht Bayesian prompting a careful shift in emphasis. Our responsiveness and ability to flex the angle meant we focused the visuals on private jets to remain respectful while keeping the message sharp.
At the heart of the campaign was a bold hero film. Designed for maximum shareability, the lavish ‘Unfairways’ took inspiration from the familiar tropes of luxury services marketed as aspiration, and twisted them into vehicles for outrage. Unlike fear-based climate campaigns, this satirical approach was both engaging and persuasive and made the policy ask to tax luxury travel, feel like obvious common sense.
The consequences of climate change were illustrated using glitch-style edits, an established cinematic convention, to connect indulgence with destruction. The glitches allow tension to build throughout the film as they start to show the negative equivalents and devastating realities of the climate emergency, caused by inequality.
Footage for both extremes was selected and crafted to juxtapose luxury with the devastation to deliver maximum impact. The tone in the voiceover jumps between an artificial advertorial warmth to a serious and urgent call to arms that aligns perfectly with the video to amplify the sense of unease.
By targeting the system, rather than people, the concept channeled outrage at the lack of taxation, without finger pointing, or shaming wealthy individuals.
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All outputs linked directly to the open letter, ensuring that awareness converted seamlessly into measurable action.
We aligned the campaign with Oxfam’s core principles and Eleven’s B Corp values by adopting sustainability throughout the creation and delivery of the campaign. From the outset, we made conscious production choices to minimize our environmental footprint.
Even though the campaign is still ongoing, it has already achieved the tangible policy change that was its core objective:
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a 50% increase in Air Passenger Duty on private jets in October 2024. This was a landmark policy change, delivered earlier than anticipated, and represents a major step towards fairness in taxation. It directly supports the campaign’s projected financial impact, raising between £605 - £780 million annually for climate action.
The campaign hit 83% of the 40,000 signature target with a month to spare, setting us well on track to hit the overall goal. The speed of this response demonstrated that the strategic, creative approach not only raised awareness but was crucial to building a momentum behind a strong public mandate for climate justice.
The campaign was deliberately designed to sustain momentum, keeping climate inequality high on the public and political agenda. Now sensitivity around the Bayesian yacht accident has subsided, the focus now turns to the continued support from the public for tax on superyacht ownership. To support this, we supplied the in-house team with a suite of social media assets and editable video files.
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Eleven Agency
We’re an award-winning creative agency that changes lives for the better. We develop campaigns and content that help organisations create awareness, shift behaviours...