AdGreen is a new initiative to unite the advertising industry to eliminate the negative environmental impacts of production. There are 2 aims for the initiative:
- to measure advertising production carbon footprints allowing the project team to understand which activities have the biggest impact,
- to empower the industry to reduce emissions and to act for a zero carbon / zero waste.
AdGreen will provide tools, services and expertise to the entire UK advertising community improving the way campaign assets are produced for a better climate future. There will be a carbon footprint calculator incorporating global carbon factors from over 140 countries, as well as specialist training, a renewable energy buy-in scheme, and later, certification and a high-quality offsetting scheme, for the advertising community in the UK. The organisation is also exploring ways to establish common standards at an international level.
Jo Coombes, Industry Sustainability Lead, AdGreen, said: “We want to build a future-proofed, carbon literate workforce, giving us the opportunity for the highest creative ambition with the lowest carbon impact. Ultimately, AdGreen means everyone will be able to capture and understand their own footprint data and be able to compare that to anonymised benchmarks.”
The initiative is welcomed by industry leaders, including the Advertising Association and ISBA, Stephen Woodford, Chief Executive, Advertising Association, added: “We are determined our industry does everything in its power to respond to the climate emergency. Phil Smith, Director General, ISBA, said: “ISBA is proud to be part of this cross-industry initiative to tackle the most critical issue of our time; the Climate Emergency. With so many ISBA members already pushing within their businesses and throughout their supply chains to #GoZero, we are constantly struck by their commitment to delivering change. Steve Davies, Chief Executive, Advertising Producers Association, said: “AdGreen will carry data on the world’s most used locations. Much of UK ad production takes place overseas as we continue to be a global hub for production so ultimately it has the potential to become the standard for our industry worldwide which is hugely exciting.”
From a brand perspective, this initiative is also warmly welcomed. Alan Jope, CEO, Unilever, said: “The consequences of the climate crisis will have a catastrophic impact on our planet and on lives and livelihoods. Urgent action is needed from every corner of every industry to move to a zero-carbon future.” Debbie Klein, Group Chief Marketing, Corporate Affairs and People Officer, Sky, said: “Our industry must come together to tackle the urgent climate crisis. Together we can provide a vital platform to share best practice and innovative ways to tackle the climate crisis, because the world can’t wait.”
The Climate Action workstream is a key part of the Advertising Association Council’s new responsibility agenda in 2020, following the launch of the association’s new mission: to promote the role and rights of responsible advertising and its value to people, society, businesses and the economy.
Anybody interested in the industry’s work around Climate Action should contact the Advertising Association at climate@adassoc.org.uk and can keep up to date on progress at the Climate Action policy page on the Advertising Association’s website.
Other supporters include:
Danny Whybrow, SVP EMEA/APAC and member of APR’s Global Leadership Team
Chris Hirst, Global CEO, Havas Creative
Helen Bell, COO Unilever, MullenLowe Group
Seamus McGibbon, CEO, Association Of Photographers
James Best, Chair of the Climate Action Working Group
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