New IPA tool defies claims that net zero is being ditched

The IPA is doubling down on its commitment to tackling climate change – despite claims that big agency groups are watering down their strategies – by launching the first industry-commissioned carbon emissions calculator for the media supply chain.

Developed in line with Ad Net Zero’s Global Media Sustainability Framework (GMSF), the tool is designed to help agencies and their clients calculate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their media campaigns.

By adhering to the GMSF, the calculator will comply with internationally recognised sustainability standards, including the IPCC framework and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. It will also directly support Action 3 of the Ad Net Zero Action Plan, which aims to cut emissions across media planning, buying, and distribution.

The calculator is being developed in collaboration with technical partner Good-Loop, appointed by the IPA following a comprehensive selection process. Good-Loop has been tasked to deliver a transparent, standardised and actionable approach to tracking and reducing the environmental footprint of media activity.

The tool is designed to provide agencies and advertisers with a reliable, consistent method for calculating the carbon emissions of their media campaigns, across the six main media channels – TV, digital, print, audio, outdoor and cinema.

It will also aim to promote consistent, comparable emissions tracking across the advertising media ecosystem, ensuring alignment with international sustainability standards and best practices.

In addition, it is claimed the calculator will further empower the advertising industry to lead responsible action with clients in line with global climate commitments, supporting the transition to net-zero emissions.

Finally the tool is aimed at supporting brands in demonstrating their commitment to sustainability, providing verifiable data to ensure authenticity in eco-friendly claims.

Succeeding the current IPA Media Carbon Calculator (which is non-GMSF-aligned), the tool is currently in development and will enter its pilot phase before the end of 2025, with participation from 14 IPA Media Climate Charter agencies: Bountiful Cow, Bray Leino, december19, IMA, IPG Mediabrands (Initiative, Rapport and UM), Medialab, Omnicom Media Group (Hearts & Science, MGOMD, OMD, PHD), Talon and the7stars.

The calculator will be rolled out to additional Charter-supporting agencies throughout 2026, allowing more players in the media landscape to adopt GMSF-compliant sustainable practices and drive progress toward global climate goals.

In addition, the IPA and Ad Net Zero will be kicking off an international coalition for industry-operated calculator development, welcoming ad industry bodies from other markets to join and help develop geographically-dedicated parallels of the IPA calculator.

IPA director of media affairs Nigel Gwilliam said: “Adherence to the GMSF ensures that the new IPA media carbon calculator will be robust, credible, widely usable and aligned with the direction the industry is heading. It’s not just a technical nicety, it underpins trust, enables comparability, and supports regulation and climate commitments. Crucially, it helps the industry act meaningfully rather than just symbolically.”

Good-Loop founder and chief executive Amy Williams added: “Our role in all of this is to quite simply take the equations and assumptions outlined in the GMSF – and turn them into a tool that is really easy for IPA members to integrate into their everyday.

“I’m proud to say that there will be no added ‘secret sauce’ in the methodology – this project is about making media decarbonisation standardised, transparent and accessible to everyone.

“We’re focused on usability, where our Easy Ingestion Technology ensures that each agency can upload their data in whatever format it currently exists, and get the exact same result.”

The move follows a highly critical report in the Financial Times, under the headline “Advertising giants change tune on climate as industry grapples with AI”.

The newspaper claimed that the so-called “big six” holding companies of Omnicom, IPG, Publicis, Dentsu, WPP and Havas have rolled back their rhetoric on climate change, as the industry grapples with being replaced by AI and the need to hold on to lucrative contracts with even the most polluting clients.

Interestingly, the FT did not provide a great deal of new evidence to support its claims, instead it cited a report by DeSmog, an organisation which works to expose climate change denial, repeating claims that IPG had reworded policies and worked on brand campaigns with clients such as Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company, as well as ExxonMobil and QatarEnerg.

The FT also criticised Ad Net Zero for deleting from its website a call to address the climate “emergency” and “build a more sustainable future”, according to cached versions of the site. In May, it also deleted a reference to “better growth for people, planet and profit”.

In response, Ad Net Zero said its “language has evolved to reflect the opportunity for greater engagement from the widest possible number of organisations”.

Speaking about the new initiative, Ad Net Zero UK chair Alessandra Bellini, the former Tesco marketing chief, concluded:”It’s brilliant to see the IPA and its members leading the way in the work to turn the Global Media Sustainability Framework into a practical, everyday tool for media planners and buyers.

“It will turn principles into action, help advertisers be truly accountable for the emissions from their media plans, enable all involved to make well-informed decisions that lead to reductions and stimulate further competition to provide the most sustainable and effective advertising choices from across the media landscape.”