Ad Net Zero’s Young Leaders publish guide to implementing sustainability into everyday business
Ad Net Zero has published a set of recommendations developed by its Young Leaders Group to offer practical, people-centred steps to ingrain sustainability into everyday business strategy.
The recommendations are a direct response to research from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), which found high levels of climate anxiety in advertising professionals, as well as a lack of confidence in raising environmental concerns at work.
Four actions have been proposed to bring sustainability front and centre.
Climate literacy
This action cements sustainability as a core business capability, with The Young Leaders calling for climate literacy to be made a standard skill.
Through this training would be embedded into onboarding and professional development for all employees, ensuring all teams understand the climate crisis, the industry’s role and ways to reduce impact.
A case study included within the report on this was The Guardian which certified its entire ad sales team as carbon literate.
Reverse mentoring
The recommendations also propose to pair senior leaders with emerging talent to create space for more informed decisions around decision-making and innovation.
Notably, the aim of this reverse mentoring is to ensure sustainability is embedded into thinking at the highest levels of leadership while making sure the next generation is involved in shaping the long-term strategy.
The Young Leaders Group particularly emphasises that emerging talent is the “lifeblood” of the industry, bringing passion, insight and urgency at a time when advertising is central to reshaping culture and supporting the transition to a sustainable economy.
Part of the everday
The report highlights how sustainability is typically siloed or communicated sporadically.
The recommendations encourage the conversation around sustainability to be had more regularly and for challenges as well as progress updates to be discussed openly.
This is argued to be essential to building trust and engagement across teams.
Sustainability metrics and appraisals
To ensure sustainability is prioritised, The Young Leaders recommended measuring it within KPIs, performance reviews and incentive structures to drive alignment of environmental responsibility and business outcomes.
This was also outlined as a crucial way to stop or reduce greenwashing.
Seb Munden, CBE, Ad Net Zero global chair, said: “The Young Leaders propose some very sensible and straightforward ways to reinforce the self-evident truth that future-proofing businesses has to be done now and cannot be left for some far-off mythical perfect moment.
“The impact of climate change on livelihoods and well-being around the world is already happening.
“Leaders who can steer the course to better business while delivering on the present are in high demand, and as this group shows there are good people up for the challenge.”
Alessandra Bellini, OBE, Ad Net Zero UK chair, echoed this: “I love the recommendations as they are simple, clear and, probably, more effective than a complex set of principles and actions.
“At the core of them, it’s personal accountability and collective responsibility to be a learning and developing organisation through the lens of sustainability.
“Once again, our younger leaders show they can be wiser than the wise ones!”
The recommendations were created by more than 40 emerging professionals from across agencies, media owners, brands and industry partners and are shaped by the lived experiences of individuals from these companies.
Drafted across the process of a year, the recommendations are a result of workshops, leadership presentations, forums and cross-company participation.