Madison Wappet is Sales Director, Queensland, MiQ.
Climate change is an existential threat to all of us. You may have heard about it. But it’s not your fault. You recycle. You’re reducing household food waste. You drink from one of the many publisher-branded reusable water bottles scattered around your desk. There’s only so much that you can do as an individual. It’s not like you work in the mining or resources sector. Right?
The average digital advertising campaign produces 5.4 tonnes of carbon. That’s about half of what you produce as an Australian in a year.
Yes – “average” probably means some of your campaigns don’t, and we could argue semantics, but as an industry we should feel some type of way about this statistic. We’re one of the first to herald a corporate sustainability pledge or B-Corp certification in our messaging. However, we’re often single-minded in our emission admissions and if we’re committed to improving sustainability practices within our industry, it’s time to reframe the way we qualify and quantify our emissions as advertisers and marketers.
The Extent of our Problem
Businesses are capable of emitting three kinds of emissions:
- Scope 1: Emissions that a business produces directly. These are fully within a business’s control, such as equipment.
- Scope 2: Emissions that a business produces indirectly, such as electricity required for productivity.
- And finally, Scope 3: Emissions that are produced in a business’s supply chain.
For many companies Scope3 emissions represent approximately 70% of their total carbon footprint. The implication is that for a business to be Net Zero, most will have to target an emissions reduction in their supply path.
If you’ve cutback on your use of the office printer, well done - but consider what’s contributing to your Scope 3 emissions – the elephant in our industry:
- Digital technology accounts for 4% of total global greenhouse gas emissions – and is increasing by 9% each year
- The communications industry, the backbone of digital advertising, will represent 20% of global emissions by 2025
- The internet emits 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon each year – the same amount as highway vehicles
In my world, the programmatic and ad tech world, these Scope 3 emissions are inherently difficult to navigate and resolve. Our ecosystem is fragmented. The expanse of the supply chain feels infinite. The technology and platforms that have become our solution for navigating a fragmented ecosystem is a significant contributor to a much bigger problem – climate change.
For years we’ve been trying to optimise the supply path to balance efficiency and effectiveness – and now we need to consider a third measure of success – emissions. The third ‘E’, if you will.
In our industry, the supply chain can be robust: it isn’t just media owners and their emissions, it’s tech platforms: supply and demand-side, verification partners, ad-serving, device usage, and the list goes on.
So, where do we begin? How do we change?
This is me warning you that the word Sustainability is about to become the next mobile, cookieless, podcast, or attention – so saddle up to our new favourite buzzword. But this is one that’s bigger than your media plan, or your brand health, it’s something tangible that can help to curve climate change.
Every company that you work with (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but many of them) is about to start selling you emissions measurement and carbon offset. But carbon offset isn’t good enough.
I recently spoke to my sister, who is an Environmental Manager in the resources sector…
Bear with me, this is relevant.
I told her about the innovation that’s happening in this space. Where, as advertisers, we can measure and offset the carbon footprint of our campaigns – and she made a very good point. Her point was – it does not matter if you can measure your emissions, it does not matter if you offset your emissions, unless you change your emissions, you’re just kicking the can down the road.
In the next three months, when every salesperson (including myself) starts speaking to you about measuring and offsetting your carbon footprint, ask them this
“How will you reduce, not offset, my carbon footprint?”
There is a solution, particularly in the world of programmatic – but I won’t sell you that dream today. Instead, I want to leave you to ponder:
Where do you stand on climate change?
Are you prepared for these conversations?
Is your organisation, and are your partners, ready to accept that we are complicit in the midst of this climate disaster?
Will you be a part of the solution, or continue to be the problem?
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
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