Advertisers will now be able to track emissions from 95% of global media spend, following the launch of Ad Net Zero’s third edition of its Global Media Sustainability Framework (GMSF).
The GMSF establishes voluntary standards in estimating and reporting greenhouse gas emissions across six media channels. It already tracks digital, TV, OOH and print, but will soon provide guidance for audio and cinema media.
Flavien Taquet, communication and transformation director at Renault Group, an Ad Net Zero Global supporter, said: “The GMSF helps us move into this new era by giving us a common language to measure media impact across markets. It allows us to standardise reporting in line with industry standards and speak with one clear voice.”
Alongside the latest edition of the GMSF, Ad Net Zero has launched Every Brief Counts, a toolkit designed to help advertisers include more sustainable behaviours in creative briefs.
Every Brief Counts first launched as a pilot in late 2024, and is designed to make science-backed climate information easy for creatives, strategists, and brand professionals to understand, enabling them to present more sustainable behaviours accurately and responsibly within advertising.
Some of the behaviours include reducing food waste, buying pre-loved clothing, or promoting recycling.
The voluntary tool was developed in response to industry feedback calling for accessible, science-backed information, which Ad Net Zero compiled from a variety of publicly available climate science sources.
Currently, only 4.3% of ads feature sustainable behaviours, according to the Sustainable Behaviours Ad Tracker, which reports on the portrayal of the Every Brief Counts behaviours within advertising and was developed in collaboration between Ad Net Zero, the Advertising Association, and Kantar. This is a drop from 6.1% seen in the first report in April 2025.
Jessica Tamsedge, CEO of dentsu creative UK, which developed the Every Brief Counts brand, said: “Climate action continues to be seen as ‘other’, an extraneous fight to core business delivery.
“Every Brief Counts is designed to hardwire sustainability into the creative process and ensure it is considered through the creative and production process.”
Sebastian Munden CBE, Ad Net Zero global chair, described the launch of both tools as a “milestone moment”.
He said: “The data is clear, and evidence is growing – sustainable advertising delivers commercially through greater effectiveness, smart efficiencies, and waste reduction.”
