Advertised Emissions is a concept adopted as a leadership practice by the UNFCCC Race to Zero campaign and defined as the GHG emissions that result from the uplift in sales generated by advertising. Services across the entire marketing and communication value chain can have a severe adverse impact on the climate, especially, when provided to high carbon emitting clients. The IPCC and the UN Secretary General have repeatedly stressed how companies from the Energy sector use targeted lobbying and doubt-inducing media strategies to derail climate change mitigation.

A group of investors, including Ecofi, Future Super, Inyova, River and Mercantile, and Sycomore Asset Management, has initiated and plans to initiate engagements with PR and advertising companies on that issue. After having established dialogue with Publicis Groupe, the group seeks to send a letter to WPP and would like to kindly invite fellow investors of WPP to co-sign the letter or join the engagement.

Why?

We see material risks for PR and advertising firms, if advertised emissions and the climate impact of services provided to clients whose business strategies are not aligned with the 1.5° C pathway set out in the Paris agreement are not adequately addressed:

1. Regulatory, business risks: regulation on banning greenwashing and advertising for products that cause global warming such as fossil fuels is increasing such as green claims codes in the EU, the UK and the US, or the Climate and Resilience Law in France, which may lead to business risks up to and including loss of business.
2. Legal risks: in recent years, the cumulative number of climate litigation cases has more than doubled. Several of those lawsuits accuse high carbon emitters such as oil and gas companies of greenwashing, citing advertising and marketing campaigns that allegedly make unsubstantiated claims about the environmental impacts of their products. Given these developments, we see an increased likelihood that third-parties involved in the alleged greenwashing will soon also be named as defendants in such litigation.
3. Reputation brand risks: talent is the most valuable resource in the PR and advertising industry. The majority of the younger generations are looking for work in a purposeful, value-aligned environment. If companies fail to provide such an environment, e.g. by providing services to high carbon emitting clients, they likely lose out on such young talent. Brand reputation is also very important to attract major clients. As scrutiny on climate action increases everywhere, large brands that take climate action seriously will increasingly consider an agency’s client portfolio before entering into contracts.