What Marketers Need to Know About the UN’s Race to Zero Campaign

Marketers are facing a new sustainability landscape in 2023.

Race to Zero, a United Nations-backed campaign to support efforts to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, is updating its guidelines this June. The refresh will include new recommendations for businesses on client disclosure and advertised emissions. During Adweek’s Sustainable Leadership Forum Thursday, Futerra’s Solitaire Townsend and Assembly Global’s Gaby Sethi sat down with Adweek’s Jameson Fleming to discuss what these changes will mean for agencies around the world. 

Sustainability in advertising 

The Race to Zero aims to create a pathway for non-state actors, such as businesses and individuals, to join the Paris Agreement and take meaningful action in support of its goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions. 

Solitaire Townsend, chief solutionist and co-founder of Futerra, recently became the first marketer to be part of the working group that reviews the rules and criteria of The Race to Zero to ensure they are in line with the latest industry standards and practices. 

If we’re going to claim that our work works, then we need to take some responsibility with the environmental impact.

Solitaire Townsend, co-founder, Futerra

“We’re looking at the guidance to give to the professional services industry because while our footprint does matter, and we do have one, it is tiny. The footprint of an average agency is smaller than your average kindergarten,” she said. “Our brain print is where our impact is. That was recognized very strongly by the Race to Zero. So they created a new set of guidance for advertising, marketing, and other professional services,” she said. 

The new criteria go into effect in June. 

The impact of an increase in consumption 

What kind of an impact do thriving sales, a surge in orders and expedited shipping have on the environment? According to Towsend, it’s time for marketers to find out — and be held accountable for their part. She stresses that it’s no longer just about the bottom line. It’s about impact. 

“The UN is interested in the impact of your product,” she said. “So, the impact of the advertising — the reason why advertising exists — is to have a measurable outcome, which is often sales. Who is responsible for the carbon of those increased sales? You have to take, as an advertising agency, part of the responsibility for that increase in sales. That puts an onus on us. If we’re going to claim that our work works — that we actually are effective in raising sales — then we need to take some responsibility with the environmental impact,” said Townsend.

A sustainable relationship 

Assembly Global is one agency doing its part to be more sustainable. According to Gabby Sethi, global head of impact, the agency recently completed a carbon footprinting project to gain a deeper understanding of its emissions and what can be done about it. Sethi is part of a team ensuring the clients they partner with align with the agency’s values. 

“We’re at the start of our sustainability journey, but we are progressing quite quickly,” she said. “One of the things we’re looking to do from an operational perspective is really thinking about the types of clients we’re working with. Who are the most progressive clients we can go after?

Our proposition is to ‘find the change that fuels growth.’ We really want to find those incredibly progressive, purpose-led businesses and help drive their agenda.”