While the 47th G7 Summit was being held in Cornwall, the7stars and other leading media agencies joined with the IPA to launch our industry’s own effort to combat the climate crisis – the IPA Media Climate Charter.
The Charter provides tools and resources, including a new media carbon calculator, to support our transition to a zero-carbon future.
Housed on a new IPA hub: https://ipamediaclimatecharter.co.uk/, the Charter offers a pathway for us to demonstrate our commitment and action in response to the climate crisis.
One of the core tools on the site is the carbon calculator for media plans. This new tool will allow us to measure the overall carbon footprint of the campaigns we plan and buy across all channels, identifying where we need to reduce the climate impact of each activity.
It calculates carbon emissions associated with a media plan based on the media mix. Using a range of data sources, including DEFRA electricity emission factors, device power outputs and energy intensity, it can determine the carbon footprint of a media plan at a channel level.
The Charter addresses one of the five core areas identified by the cross-industry Ad Net Zero initiative, Point 3, to “curb emissions from media planning, buying and distribution.”
Alongside the calculator, the charter provides us with additional guidance via reports, research and recommendations to help reduce the carbon impact of our own operations and aims to advance the industry’s sustainability goals through an ongoing programme of research, education and events.
IPA President Julian Douglas says: “The science is clear. We need to turn fast and hard if we are to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees and mitigate [its] worst effects.”
Douglas cites incrementalism as an enemy of sustainable progress. He calls for bold action across the sector in a unified response and transition to charter standards and recognises that we cannot succeed by acting in isolation: “We need fully committed industry-wide coalitions that drive the change we need to see.”
The IPA Media Climate Charter was drawn up as a response to that challenge for collective action. Douglas asserts that it sets the pathway for sustainable transformation. A range of tools and resources have been developed explicitly to empower all charter members to make genuine impact within the work of their own agency and for that impact to accumulate into collective benefit for everyone.
“Most importantly,” Douglas adds, “Climate Charter members will join a community of motivated media agencies, which together can solve problems, share lessons and inspire the 10x change that we know is required.”
If you would like to find out more about how the Charter can help with your media planning, please speak to your account team at the7stars who will be happy to help.
