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Environmental Sustainability

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Sustainability

Advertisers of all sizes, along with their advertising agencies, media owners and platforms, need to decarbonise their operations rapidly and help promote the adoption of more sustainable products and services. Advertisers, agencies, and every company in our industry share the responsibility to make this happen. 

ISBA is a signatory of the United Nations Race to Zero campaign, which include a commitment to halve emissions by 2030, and achieve net zero by 2050. 

ISBA has also signed the WFA Planet Pledge, a global commitment to make marketing teams a force for positive change both internally and with the consumers who buy their products and services.

As part of ISBA’s Public Affairs activity we are engaging with government and regulators on a broad range of issues, including environmental sustainability. Find out more about the other areas of ISBA’s Public Affairs work here. 

To find out more, please contact ISBA’s Director of Public Affairs, Rob Newman. 

Contact us

Rob Newman

Rob Newman

Director of Public Affairs
Rob Newman

Rob Newman

Director of Public Affairs

Rob leads Public Affairs for ISBA – engaging with government, Parliament, policymakers, and regulators to represent our policy positions to external audiences.

He leads our Strategic Policy Action Group, a corporate affairs forum for ISBA members; and our Influencer Marketing Working Group, which developed a Code of Conduct launched in 2021.

A former political adviser and consultant who has worked in Parliament, at think tanks and in the private sector, Rob spent 12 years working for the Labour Party in various guises – for frontbenchers and backbenchers; in government and opposition; in constituencies and in Westminster. He attended Shadow Cabinet meetings as part of its secretariat and worked in the Whips Office.

Subsequently, Rob spent over three years at Edelman, the world’s largest communications agency, supporting clients including FTSE 100 companies and multinationals in the FMCG and tech sectors on their public affairs programmes. He then ran communications and policy for the foreign affairs and defence-focused Henry Jackson Society think tank, before becoming a freelance consultant. He joined ISBA in 2019. 

Laura Wade

Laura Wade

Sustainability Lead
Laura Wade

Laura Wade

Sustainability Lead

Laura Wade is a Strategic Advisor and Pioneer for Regenerative Media and Marketing principles. Helping close the gap between ambition and action.  As former Global Head of Sustainability Strategy at Essencemediacom, Wade empowered advertisers to build and scale sustainable practices and industry leading media decarbonisation strategies. 

Wade is a revered leader in Sustainability in media and was awarded Campaigns 2024 ‘40 over 40’ for the impact of her work in this space and an active member of several industry workings groups across IAB Europe, AOP and Ad Net Zero. In 2023 Wade was awarded IAB Europe’s ‘Outstanding Contribution to the digital Industry’ for her work in digital decarbonisation.

Wade is also a non-executive trustee at the Arts Charity Lighthouse connecting art, technology, science and society. 

Ad Net Zero

ISBA is a founding member of Ad Net Zero – the advertising industry’s drive to reduce the carbon impact of developing, producing and running advertising to real net zero. The Ad Net Zero action plan provides the industry with a guide for its transition to net zero:

  • Action 1: Reduce Emissions from Advertising Business Operations
  • Action 2: Reduce Emissions from Advertising Production
  • Action 3: Reduce Emissions from Media Planning & Buying
  • Action 4: Reduce Advertising Emissions Through Awards and from Events
  • Action 5: Harness Advertising's Power to Support Behaviour Change

More information about Ad Net Zero is available here.

AdGreen

ISBA is a founding partner of AdGreen – an initiative that supports the advertising industry to reduce the negative environmental impacts of production, and to measure and understand waste and carbon emissions.

AdGreen provides training, a carbon calculator, and resources for the whole industry in order to accelerate change.

The carbon calculator is free to use for the advertising production community, and enables brands to explore and analyse footprints for all projects within their campaign if logged.

More information about AdGreen is available here.

WFA Planet Pledge

ISBA has signed the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) Planet Pledge, a global commitment to make marketing teams a force for positive change both internally and with the consumers who buy their products and services. The Planet Pledge framework is designed to galvanise action from marketers to promote and reinforce attitudes and behaviours meeting the challenges laid out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Greenwashing and green claims

Understanding the updated regulations around green claims in advertising is a priority issue for many advertisers. The latest ASA guidance has its roots in the Climate Change and the Environment project commenced in 2021, and the work which has been done since – including proactive reviews of priority sectors and research into consumer understanding. Recent rulings have their basis in this work.

The ASA presented the latest guidance and answered questions at ISBA’s Sustainability Forum. A recording of that meeting is available to ISBA members here.

ISBA Sustainability Forum

ISBA’s Sustainability Forum supports members in creating a transparent, responsible and accountable advertising environment. As environmental and societal pressures reshape markets, regulation and consumer behaviour, the forum helps members strengthen resilience, competitiveness and long-term value. 

Through practical, evidence-based insight and collaboration, members explore innovation, supply chain resilience and risk management aligned with industry standards. By convening members and sharing best practice, the forum delivers actionable guidance that supports member success and drives progress towards a more sustainable advertising industry.  

If you would like to find out more and get involved, please contact Laura Wade.

2026 Priorities

The Sustainability Forum focuses on three core priorities in 2026 designed to help members embed sustainability into marketing and media decision-making and demonstrate business value creation 

 

Sustainability Forum Priorities 

  1. Operationalising Sustainable Marketing and Media
  • Help members understand the environmental and carbon impact of media and marketing decisions and what impact looks like 
  • Support collaboration across sustainability, procurement and media teams to align marketing efforts with wider corporate sustainability objectives
  • Develop sustainable media and creative supply chain principles  
  1. Evidencing Business Value Creation 
  • Deliver the business case for sustainable marketing with evidence led case studies
  • Map proof points for sustainable marketing practices that drive business value creation    
  1. Unlocking Sustainable Communications
  • Understand how to identify opportunities for effective sustainable communications 
  • Develop category-level understanding of behaviour change and creative challenges within categories
  • Review existing tools and frameworks for understanding and navigating sustainable comms within regulatory requirements   

If you are interested in understanding where to begin please find the foundational actions marketers can take to help them begin their sustainable marketing journey or reach out to LauraW@isba.org.uk  

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