GroupM unites 20 advertisers for media supply chain decarbonisation efforts

GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, has created a client coalition that unites nearly 20 leading advertisers – collectively representing US$10 billion in global advertising investment – with a shared commitment to accelerate the decarbonisation of the world’s media supply chain. Some of the clients include Audible, AXA, Bayer, Danone, Deutsche Telekom, L’Oréal, Mars, Paramount, Sony, TalkTalk, and Tesco.

While the coalition is currently comprised of GroupM client companies, organisations that are not clients but who are committed to decarbonisation may register their interest as well, said Group M. Coalition members benefit from opportunities to pioneer best practices and principles, peer-based learning, early insight into vendor and partner initiatives, and advancing their efforts to achieve their own Net Zero and decarbonisation goals.

GroupM’s establishment of the coalition follows the introduction of a proposed global framework for measuring ad-based carbon emissions in July 2022. Coalition members are committed to the establishment of a common approach to measuring ad-based carbon emissions and will work with GroupM and the industry more broadly to test and improve GroupM’s proposed measurement framework. The coalition will also insist on accurate, standardised emissions reporting by platforms, publishers, and media suppliers.

Collectively, the coalition will advance and incentivise efforts across the industry to reduce the total amount of carbon created by the placement and consumption of advertising.

“We introduced our global framework in July with a goal of uniting the industry around a common set of measurement standards to accelerate our collective media decarbonisation efforts. On this issue, we know we can achieve more, together, than we can with separate and disparate action,” said Christian Juhl, GroupM’s global CEO. “The coalition we’re announcing today sends a clear message that decarbonization and supply chain sustainability is a top priority for media decision makers and the brands and businesses they represent.”

“The passion our clients have for this initiative underscores the importance of this issue to the world’s leading advertisers and the momentum that is building across the industry for a united approach,” said Krystal Olivieri, global chief innovation officer at GroupM. “By creating a coalition to focus on the decarbonisation challenge, we will provide an important forum for collaboration across companies and channel our shared energy into new technologies and solutions that will make advertising one of the cleanest industries in the world.”

The Media Decarbonisation Coalition is inspired by the success of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), which was co-founded by GroupM in June 2019 to set more consistent brand safety controls and guidelines across the industry.

“The most important and immediate step we can take to address the climate crisis is to align on a single set of industry standards for carbon measurement,” said Kieley Taylor, global head of partnerships at GroupM. “This step is crucial to create a common language across the advertising ecosystem so we can go beyond measurement debates to focus on reducing and eliminating ad-based carbon emissions with our partners. Fighting climate change is the challenge of our lifetimes, and we’re excited to show the world the impact we can make when we all work together.”

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