Let’s Pull the Emergency Brake and Cut Advertising Emissions Now

Every week in April seemed to mark yet another major milestone in the sustainable advertising movement.

We took the stage at several sustainability events focused on accelerating the movement, we released new data and emissions benchmarks that accurately sized our industry’s emissions problem, and finally, we presented (for the first time!) inspiring reduction results from global brands — it was a busy and truly exciting month for Scope3. Maybe it’s time to designate April as ‘Earth Month’?

One of the most notable moments of the month came from a presentation by Project Drawdown ’s John Foley who kicked off IPG’s Green Media Day. He said:

“In order to stop climate change, we have to hit the emergency brakes. We need to deploy climate solutions that can have an immediate impact on the atmosphere. Things like stopping deforestation, making massive improvements in energy efficiency…”

He went on to talk about how our actions today are critical and that they must focus on emissions cuts — 94% of the total solution to curbing the climate crisis is cutting emissions, and emissions cuts started in now in the 2020s are 75% of the total solution.

Finally, he ended by emphasizing the importance of how we should prioritize emissions cuts, and the need to focus our time, attention and resources on areas that have the biggest impact.

That bring us to our first data report. The industry now has an accurate estimate on the emissions generated by programmatic advertising (215K mt every month across 5 major economies). And, more importantly, the report offers insight into where exactly to focus our reduction efforts. Using specific and granular data allows us to pinpoint the biggest sources of emissions and waste in our industry. This is the data that will help us drive systemic change. Haven’t read it yet? Download the report here .

What’s most exciting is that we know this data can drive reduction because there are real campaign results to prove it. Earlier this week, Brian O’Kelley took the WFA World Marketer Week stage with Mastercard’s Raja Rajamanna to talk about sustainable advertising. Raja shared that marketing represents 25% of the carbon footprint of the financial services industry and that - surprisingly - digital advertising contributes 80% of the carbon even though it is only 50% of the spend.

Brian then shared what happens when carbon emissions becomes a campaign metric and waste is removed from the programmatic supply chain. The results were from 5 pilots over the last six months with WFA Planet Pledge members Reckitt , Sanofi , Diageo , Mastercard , and Philips, as well as a pilot for Audi with PHD and Adform (see the Audi/Adform results here ).

Every pilot we conducted demonstrated significant carbon reduction with no negative reach or performance implications. Reduction is happening and the world’s biggest brands have charted a pathway for the rest of the industry to follow. It’s only just the beginning.

ICYMI — April highlights from the Scope3

• The latest in our Scope3x5 series features a peek in to the world of our head of customer success, Guilherme K. . The post shines a light on his role at Scope3 and his unique perspective on the state of our industry. Read it here .
• With emissions data now at our fingertips, do you know how your ad campaigns stack up? If you’re looking for a true global benchmark for carbon emissions — it doesn’t exist. Too many variables go into campaigns, which means setting a single benchmark is unhelpful for driving change. Instead, here is a quick explainer setting emissions benchmarks.
• Publishers are doing their part to not only reduce emissions but also provide access to trusted news and information on climate change. Take Insider, Inc. for instance — Insider completed a Scope3 publisher assessment, then took action to reduce their carbon footprint. They are also leading on the information front with their newly launched, ‘One Planet’, editorial vertical. Read more in ADWEEK here .

And finally, where in the world is Scope3??You can find us on stage at the following events in the coming weeks:

• ANA?2023?Advertising Financial Management Conference — Phoenix, 30 April
• Advertising Week Europe — London, 16-18 May 2023
• Campaign Media360 — Brighton, 17-18 May
• IAB Finland MIXX Awards — Helsinki, 25 May
• AdMonsters Ops — New York, 5-6 June