Ad Net Zero Update

This article was written by the Sustainability hub of the Print Council.

As part of the UK government’s overall strategy on climate change, twelve months ago the Advertising Association launched its campaign Ad Net Zero with a commitment on behalf of all UK advertising to reduce the climate impact of our industry to ‘real net zero’ by 2030. The DMA has been an active participant in the AA’s Climate Action Working Group and have steered this initiative. Its mission is for immediate, collective industry action to help achieve real net zero carbon emissions from the development, production and media placement of advertising by the end of 2030.

Ad Net Zero incorporates a five-step action programme for participants in the advertising industry.

Action 1 – Getting your house in order - All agencies and marketing services companies are encouraged to join Ad Net Zero and commit to curtailing their operational carbon emissions to achieve net zero by end-2030. To do this, they will measure carbon footprint data, reduce emissions as far as possible (with a focus on minimising air travel and switching to renewable energy), and offset what cannot be reduced through carbon removal schemes

Action 2 – Curb emissions from advertising production - All agencies and production companies – with client support – will be encouraged to commit to zero waste/zero carbon production

Action 3 – Curb emissions from media planning and buying - All media agencies will be encouraged to adopt the IPA Media Futures Group’s Climate Charter, enabling media planning and buying choices to be made with their carbon emissions impact front-of-mind. The Charter is designed to provide the tools and resources to support the transition to a zero-carbon future

Action 4 – Curb advertising emissions through awards and from events - Ad Net Zero will challenge industry awards bodies to ensure that the sustainability credentials and climate impact of campaigns inform judging. It will also encourage organisers of events and conferences to put sustainability at the forefront of planning, seeking in particular to curtail long-distance travel, where possible

Action 5 – Harnessing advertising’s power to support consumer behaviour change - Ad Net Zero will ask the UK ad industry, through its engagement with this plan, to put Climate Action at the heart of its work to help change consumer behaviour

Over the past year, Ad Net Zero has begun the collection of carbon output data from a cross-section of the industry to establish benchmarks for future reduction plans. In addition, they have hosted a Global Summit against the backdrop of Cop26 in Glasgow. Anyone wishing to see the content may view it for free on the following links:

Day 1: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPUhZia0faV0RZqGJ9AtVkSvuYmWZM_fi

Day 2: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPUhZia0faV2-6cit19O56zhtRXmL0wQD

In addition, they have launched a brand new qualification, the Ad Net Zero Essentials Certificate to help people working in the advertising and marketing services industries understand the climate crisis and the actions to achieve net zero emissions from the development, production and media placement of advertising by 2030.

To further support and promote these initiatives the Sustainability Hub of the Print Council plans to create a series of resources to help DMA members along their journeys towards net zero and to support the education of the fact that the print industry has an excellent story to tell on sustainability.

This article was written by the Sustainability hub of the Print Council. The hub aims to champion new ways that the industry is creating to support sustainable print media. The hub focuses on positive and educational messaging around the practical elements and procedures needed for sustainability.