Annual Review 2022: AdGreen: Reducing The Carbon Footprint Of Ad Production

Jo Fenn, Project Director, AdGreen

AdGreen officially launched in 2020 when the project became part of the Advertising Association, but, as with many sustainability initiatives, this was many years in the making. This year we will publish our first annual review, and it is a wonderful time to reflect on all that has been achieved and to look ahead at what’s to come.

AdGreen is here to support the industry: guiding advertisers, creative agencies, and production companies as they take their first step into carbon measurement. Our environmental sustainability training, carbon calculator and reduction resources enable the advertising production community to understand the implication of each activity they undertake, and footprint they make. Since AdGreen’s inception in 2014 we have collaborated with ad agencies, agency holding companies, production companies, trade bodies and advertisers to create a bespoke solution for the advertising industry.

The first step is always training. An updated and on-demand vers ion of our flagship Sustainable Production training module was released in November 2022. It provides insight into the climate crisis with science-based carbon literacy education, information on the impact of the advertising industry, and an introduction to the carbon calculator. This module aims to empower trainees to measure and reduce emissions, and following the session attendees are provided with resources to continue their low carbon journey and put their learnings into action.

With the launch of the carbon calculator in September 2021, we now have a full year of production data to inform our strategy going forward. AdGreen’s annual review will provide the industry with the bigger picture of what is happening across motion, stills and audio productions, and how this contributes to the wider footprint of our industry. The AdGreen team is constantly improving the user experience of our carbon calculator, with regular development communicated via pop-ups in the tool, as well as annual carbon factor updates added behind the scenes. The aim for the first year of calculation was to encourage adoption, and we have seen great take-up from those entering data into the tool – creative agencies and production companies – as well as some brilliant brand engagement, and not just in the UK.

Going forward, AdGreen will work with companies and users to increase the percentage of projects being completed, not just created. By growing the dataset of completed projects, we can provide further insights for the industry, to inform the production strategies of the future.

From travel to disposal, the ability for each company to analyse their activities, and compare it to the industry dataset, could generate incredible change. We believe data is the key to sustainable progress, and so the publication of data highlighting the activity of our industry will be crucial in making change happen. This is only the beginning of our collective journey.

I would like to thank our advisory board, industry partners, close collaborators, and everyone who has taken our training, registered for the carbon calculator, attended our events and shared our work. It would not have been possible without each and every person who has taken action, and put environmental sustainability on the agenda.

Learn more about AdGreen.

You can download our full 2022 Annual Review here.