Baby, It’s Warm Outside: Advertising’s Place in the Climate Crisis at the End of 2024

We are at a pivotal moment in the digital advertising industry’s journey towards a more sustainable future. Despite the availability of initiatives like the Global Media Sustainability Framework, our industry is still lagging behind other sectors in adopting important sustainability measures. 

A hot industry topic a couple of years ago, a significant percentage of companies have yet to evaluate their carbon emissions, underscoring the urgent need for less talk and more action. The last thing we need is more hot air, after all. 

And next year, the pressure to reduce emissions will only become more intense as energy consumption within the online ad sector will see a significant increase, driven by several key trends. 

One of the biggest is the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), which is quickly becoming a cornerstone of the industry. From creating highly personalised ads to optimising campaign algorithms, AI processes require substantial computational power, which translates into higher energy consumption – and ultimately higher emissions.  

The rapid growth of connected TV (CTV) advertising – expected to see a double-digit percentage increase in ad spend next year for 2025 – will also be a huge contributor to emissions. Streaming platforms and the infrastructure supporting programmatic ad delivery on CTV are resource-heavy, further pushing energy demands upward.  

On the positive side, new legal frameworks in Europe, including the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), are paving the way for significant improvements. These regulations and guidelines will hold stakeholders accountable, leaving no room to step back from addressing energy consumption and sustainability in the sector.

But there is still a lot of work to be done. So how do we tackle it? 

First, we must increase awareness among all stakeholders in our industry. Despite existing training programmes, adoption remains limited. This challenge affects various teams — marketing, tech, operations, and procurement — highlighting the need for an industry-wide understanding and commitment.

While there are important initiatives aimed at promoting sustainability, their impact is still limited. Many companies have focused on standardising measurement over the past year. For example, the launch of Ad Net Zero’s Global Media Sustainability Framework at Cannes. 

However, this can inadvertently lead to inaction. This focus on standardisation has consumed time that could be better spent deploying practical solutions. Even with best practices identified, widespread adoption is crucial to achieving meaningful progress. Companies that we support like L’Oreal have demonstrated that it is indeed possible to rapidly scale environmental efforts – provided we cultivate the right mindset and knowledge within the media teams.

The shift towards AI has diverted significant innovation resources away from sustainability initiatives, raising concerns about the carbon emissions associated with this technology. Rather than viewing AI and sustainability as competing priorities, we must see them as intertwined. The integration of sustainable practices is essential to accompany this technological transformation. By addressing these challenges together, we can drive meaningful progress in both areas.

Advertisers must also rapidly raise awareness about upcoming regulations, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), concerning Scope 3 emissions, which encompass marketing activities. This awareness will catalyse action across supply chains, propelling our industry forward. However, it will be interesting to see how many companies will be ready by next year’s deadline. 

We may also see market consolidation next year, either through acquisitions among vertical platforms (specialists) or horizontal platforms (more generalist solutions). This trend could redefine the competitive landscape, with potential implications for energy consumption and efficiency as larger players integrate their operations and infrastructures.  

In conclusion, while it is certainly possible to make a more sustainable ad ecosystem, we must acknowledge that we are not nearly there yet. The many challenges outlined — such as industry lag, limited impact from current initiatives, the dominance of AI in innovation, and the need for a collective commitment — underscore the significant amount of work that remains ahead of us. To make meaningful progress, we must address these issues head-on and work together to create a sustainable future for digital advertising.

2024 has felt like a strange year, with a weird juxtaposition between the ever confronting and growing list of climate disasters we are facing globally, with often a feeling of desensitisation and complacency to the challenges. A survey conducted by The Eco Experts found only half of those surveyed agreed that the world is facing a climate emergency, down from three-quarters in 2023. 

One thing that feels optimistic is the growing movement towards better understanding the influence the creative and advertising industry really has on people's decisions, aspirations and behaviours. Storytelling is such an integral part of the industry and the reality that for decades this has been used to drive mass consumption and often mislead audiences seems to be becoming more mainstream. The recent Netflix documentary 'Buy now! The shopping conspiracy', the reality checks at the end of each new episode of any David Attenborough programme, and even the UN Secretary General calling for a ban on fossil fuel advertising, are all continually embedding the message of the true human impact on the natural world. Could 2024 be the start of the tipping point to really shift behaviour on a mass scale? 

Looking ahead to 2025, the concept of Serviced Emissions is something that can hopefully act as a catalyst for the advertising industry and other service-based sectors to truly identify their full impact and in turn accelerate the change that is going to be required for industries to not just survive but thrive.

2024’s climate crisis hit really hard, with record-breaking heatwaves, devastating floods, and increasing biodiversity loss. It was impossible to ignore. But did the advertising industry rise to meet the moment? The results were mixed, to say the least. 

 

On the one hand, brands like Unilever, Patagonia, Lacoste and IKEA led the charge with campaigns focused on practical sustainability, showing consumers how small changes, like using less water or switching to plant-based products, could collectively make a big impact. Campaigns in this space work because they are actionable, empowering, and overall these kinds of honest campaigns are well-received.  

 

On the other hand, many brands continued to fall into the trap of greenwashing, with more hollow promises and vague climate pledges that audiences could instantly see through. With AI dominating much of the year’s innovation focus, environmental issues seemed to take a backseat in many creative spaces. For an industry that once vowed to ‘reimagine sustainability’, this lack of urgency was a little disappointing to say the least.  

 

The way forward is actually pretty clear. The industry must integrate sustainability into every single stage of the creative process, from production to messaging. Authenticity will be key in 2025.

 

Consumers don’t want brands to talk about sustainability, only for them to go against their own message with their actions. Consumers want brands to lead by example, using their platforms to demand systemic change.  

 

But, there is some good news. Younger audiences, gen z and millennials, are more vocal than ever about their expectations, and they tend to reward brands who align with their values. The challenge for those of us working in marketing is to translate those expectations into meaningful action and truthful messaging. 

In adland, there are some bright spots when it comes to climate: there are more EV ads, for example, and the efforts of climate-conscious organisations like Clean Creatives. But the overall urgency is lacking. We’ve seen this reflected across both the ad industry – despite the aforementioned advancements – and what seemed to be voter priorities in the US election. 

 

I’d love to see more agencies sign the Clean Creatives pledge, like GALE did. But if we want the industry to change, we need people the world over to prioritise climate. Adland often reflects the priorities of the audiences they’re trying to reach. Take the economy. People worry about the rising costs of food, so a fast food chain touts its value meal in a spot with a catchy jingle. If audiences don’t see climate as a key issue, then advertisers – eager to win the hearts, minds, and wallets of consumers – largely won’t be prioritising it either.

 

To fix that, we need to tell a better story on climate – one that connects with people across the political spectrum. So far, we haven’t been great at that. The climate movement has been stuck talking to itself, using language and tactics that only resonate with the already convinced. In marketing terms, we’ve only been targeting core customers, and that’s not cutting it.

 

It’s time for a new strategy. Climate change needs a rebrand, and if there’s any industry equipped to help, it’s ours. I’ve had good exchanges with people ready to push things forward. This could be the moment we start making climate a bigger deal for more Americans. 

The ad industry loves to celebrate its purpose-driven campaigns and green communications. But behind this green curtain, there’s a more uncomfortable reality. Whether through who agencies work with, how campaigns are being produced, or narratives that creatives perpetuate, the industry contributes more to the problem than to the solution.

Greenwashing has become a standard in the industry. And there are tons of examples to show it; Shell’s ‘Powering Progress’ campaign, when only 1.5% of Shell’s capital expenditure goes into renewables; H&M’s ‘Conscious Collection’, while the brand remains a major contributor to overproduction and textile waste; Airlines’ ‘carbon neutral flights’, while increasing flight frequency.

We need to deconstruct this because this failure has disastrous consequences on the trust we receive from the public and advertisers.

Consumers are losing trust: 57% of people believe brands are guilty of greenwashing. Regulatory pressure is getting bigger and talents are leaving in their quest for meaningful actions.

Basically, we can say that agencies traded progress for short-term urgent profit margins.

The reason behind it ? Fear. Fear of losing clients. Fear of shrinking margins. Fear of stepping outside their comfort zone. Agencies still prioritise short-term profitability over long-term resilience, refusing to innovate, to challenge, to lead. It's like desperately clinging to a sinking ship.

Consumers are rejecting brands they perceive as disingenuous. Markets are demanding authenticity, but agencies remain stuck in a cycle of denial, afraid to move, afraid to risk, afraid to transform.

Agencies must confront their fear and take ownership of their role. Be honest about their impact. Be transparent with clients and consumers. Embrace collaboration with progressive businesses, regulators, and creative minds.

In fact, it’s a matter of demonstrating that honest engagements create value. And the biggest value for advertisers today is economical value. A recent study from BCG shows that brands are finding financial gains equal to more than 7% in revenue through decarbonisation efforts. And this is just the beginning. 

If we fail to embrace honesty, transparency, and collaboration, we will become irrelevant – an industry of empty slogans in a world demanding substance. Progress doesn’t mean sacrificing margins; it means creating new, lasting value that benefits brands, society, and the planet. A combination of personal, functional and collective benefits. 

The choice is simple: be the architects of change or the remnants of irrelevance. 

Sustainability is often thought of as a mindful attitude towards the environment. Which I think is an understatement of the impact we and our industry have in the world we live in. Time, people, creativity and of course energy are all resources we should use sustainably. When we become aware that everything is finite, this leads us to give more value to everything and everyone surrounding us. 

As a powerful medium for influencing public perception and awareness, advertising has the potential to highlight key global issues and create meaningful change. In order to address all that, our industry should aim to reconnect with the very people that drive it. We can do that by cultivating immersive environments where advertising professionals can gather, connect, and collaborate in a more thoughtful and relaxed setting. We can encourage deeper interactions and foster genuine relationships, inspiring each other with a renewed sense of purpose and humanity. 

As hard as it may seem, we are at a point in which we need to slow down this fast-paced industry. It’s really up to us. Content will keep flooding our devices, but as the professionals creating that content we can choose to use its power to promote a more ‘sustainable’ and compassionate world. A change that can only come from within the industry and ourselves."

The climate crisis has only grown more pressing, with 2024 delivering harsh reminders of our collective responsibility. While the advertising industry set ambitious sustainability goals back in 2020, today’s reality is a mixed bag. On one hand, there have been noteworthy advances – carbon calculators are more sophisticated, remote production technologies can significantly reduce travel (but we haven’t seen them fully embraced yet), and more agencies and brands have begun to integrate environmental impact metrics alongside traditional KPIs. On the other hand, we are not seeing the issue being tackled with the same intensity as during the pandemic, and the environmental impact – energy and water consumption, as well as carbon emissions – of AI and data urgently need industry attention.

In 2025, our industry must re-establish the momentum that first emerged when Green The Bid launched during the pandemic. We need a more integrated approach where sustainability underpins every stage of the advertising lifecycle. This means not only treating sustainability as a crew department and standardising integrated sustainability practices, but also embedding carbon and waste diversion goals and allocating sustainability budgets into each brief and bidding process. It means pushing for transparent reporting standards, holding media partners accountable for their carbon and waste footprints, and collectively championing sustainable narratives in campaigns. It involves recognising that creative excellence and climate action are not mutually exclusive.

Ultimately, what we need now is to be bold. Clients, agencies and production partners must collaborate to align their values and redefine what ‘good’ looks like. Training and professional development need to incorporate sustainability best practices, and top executives should encourage — and require — climate-sensitive thinking from their teams. In 2025, let’s stop treating environmental stewardship as an afterthought or a ‘nice to have’. Instead, let it guide us as we harness emerging technologies, evolving best practices, and creative innovation to make advertising’s impact genuinely sustainable and even regenerative.