Ads go green: Irish advertising industry unites to launch Ad Net Zero climate action push

The Irish advertising industry has come together for a new climate-action push that calls on ad creatives to use their influence to promote more sustainable consumer choices and also sets a target of reaching net zero carbon emissions within its operations by 2030.

The Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI) will lead Ad Net Zero Ireland, the first international chapter of an industry-wide initiative that began in the UK in 2020.

IAPI members will be joined by those of the Advertising Association of Ireland, the Marketing Institute of Ireland, Commercial Producers of Ireland and IAB Ireland in an “all-in” bid to help advertising respond to the climate crisis and make its work a force for positive change.

As well as proposing steps to make business operations, including events and the production of advertisements, more sustainable, Ad Net Zero will urge the industry to #ChangeTheBrief – meaning look at its wider responsibilities to the planet when it creates advertisements that influence consumer behaviour.

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IAPI chief executive Charley Stoney said engagement with the plan and collaboration across the industry had been “very inspirational” to date.

“The drive for sustainability is such an overriding priority for business,” Ms Stoney said. “I truly believe that we can make a difference by joining Ad Net Zero and taking action to reduce carbon emissions.”

Independent marketing and sustainability specialist Elizabeth Sheehan is working with the industry to launch the Irish chapter of the initiative alongside IAPI board members Abi Moran, who is chief executive of Folk Wunderman Thompson, and Fiona Field, managing director of OMD.

Ad Net Zero Ireland will participate in Ad Net Zero’s next global summit, which will be held to coincide with the UN’s Cop 27 climate change summit in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt in November.