Leaders from many of the largest companies and associations in the world’s advertising industry have announced at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity their intent to expand the U.K.’s Ad Net Zero internationally to major markets in order to address the global climate crisis.

The world’s major advertising agency holding companies--dentsu international, Havas, Interpublic Group, Omnicom, Publicis Groupe and WPP--along with major advertiser Unilever, global tech companies Google and Meta, plus European media company Sky, will be supported by U.S. trade bodies, ANA, 4A’s and the IAB, European and global agency associations, EACA and Voxcomm, the WFA representing global advertisers and the IAA to extend the Ad Net Zero program internationally, learning from what has been done in the U.K. thus far. Ascential, owner of Lions, has played a major role in convening this action to tackle the climate emergency. The group invited more organizations with international reach to join and help support the rollout plans.

Ad Net Zero is committed to curtailing operational carbon emissions to achieve net zero by the end of 2030.  To do this, the program 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. Ad Net Zero’s aims will be shared through their participating organizations by encouraging employees to understand and take ownership of their own personal carbon impact, and to adopt sustainable behaviors

The Ad Net Zero program was launched in the U.K. in November 2020 by the Advertising Association, ISBA and the IPA and counts over 100 advertisers, agencies, commercial media owners and production companies in its membership. All the partners in the global coalition are supporters in the U.K. and are committed to build plans to extend Ad Net Zero into other major markets. The focus of the new Ad Net Zero group will be to rapidly establish plans for rollout in major advertising markets with immediate focus on the U.S. and the EU, working in partnership with the U.K. team. The next update will be presented at the Ad Net Zero Global Summit which will take place online on November 9 and 10, alongside COP27. Going forward, progress will be shared and discussed at Cannes Lions each summer and the Global Summit each November, in line with the COP event, to maintain momentum during this critical decade.

Stephen Woodford, chief executive, Advertising Association, said: “Our 5-point action plan pledges to reduce carbon emissions from U.K. advertising operations to net zero by 2030, with businesses committing to robust, verified plans to reduce their emissions. It also pledges to use advertising’s power to accelerate the switch to more sustainable products and services for consumers. We are excited to be working now on a roadmap for development internationally, with the flexibility to adapt and develop market specific solutions and share best practice in sustainable ad operations. We welcome all organizations interested in this to contact us to find out more.”

The global advertising industry, as measured by advertising media investment, was worth $594,322bn in 2020. The top 20 advertising markets account for 89.3% of this spend and these markets will be the focus for the program’s rollout.