Audience Group has commenced its journey to net zero emissions and is now a certified carbon-neutral organisation, covering Scope 1, Scope 2 and some Scope 3 emissions.
The independent advertising services and media agency selected Trace to measure, reduce and compensate for its carbon emissions and support its efforts towards becoming a net zero business.
Tom Evans, Audience Group’s co-founder and managing director, said: “Striving for carbon neutrality is table stakes. Not only because this is the way we intend to run our own business but because this is how Audience Group helps our clients make advertising decisions that support their ESG objectives.”
Trace is an Australian-based organisation that makes it simple and credible for organisations to manage their carbon emissions. The process involves measuring base-level carbon emissions based on global standards, reducing emissions where possible and compensating for emissions not yet reduced through funding high-integrity carbon credit projects.
Tom Evans
These third-party verified projects enable organisations to compensate for their carbon emissions in ways that deliver measurable benefits to communities and ecosystems whilst they work on carbon reduction.
In its first assessment year (FY2021/2022), Audience Group’s estimated carbon footprint is 91.3t CO2. The assessment covered Scope 1, Scope 2 and some Scope 3 emissions. More data is required to measure Scope 3 emissions in their entirety, which Trace reports is often the case when businesses start their net zero journey.
As a result of the measurement several opportunities for carbon reduction have been identified and five carbon projects were funded to compensate for 100% of its emissions for that period. The independent agency also funded the planting of an additional 524 trees which will sequester another 11.8t CO2 over their lifetime.
Evans said: “We are committed to an annual emissions assessment and carbon reduction. So far, we’re reviewing our office lease agreement with a view to increasing our usage of renewable electricity, we’ve updated our corporate travel policy to reduce air travel where possible and offset all future air travel and point of purchase, and we’re auditing our waste management program to find room for improvement. We will also continue to compensate emissions that we cannot reduce.”
In keeping with its hybrid-work structure, Audience Group assessed emissions related to office work as well as when its staff is working from home. Thanks to its first annual employee emissions survey, Audience Group can report carbon-friendly highlights such as:
• More than 20% of Audience Group staff are on meat-free diets
• Most walk, cycle or catch public transit to the office
• Just over 10% purchase renewable electricity (Note: More than 50% were unsure of their electricity mix at home, and all have been educated and encouraged to review their electricity usage as a next step.)
Scoping out Scope 3 Emissions
Evans said: “A process of measuring and managing our organisational emissions has been established. This covers our Scope 1, Scope 2 and some of our Scope 3 emissions. The scope 3 emissions that were excluded were primarily the emissions associated with our purchased goods, including those associated with media purchased on behalf of clients and on-charged.
“We have now moved on to this more extensive process of collecting data to allow us to measure these emissions to ensure we are fully disclosing and aware of Audience’ Groups entire carbon footprint,” he added.
Cat Long, CEO of Trace, said: “Trace is proud to work with agencies like Audience Group which is taking climate very seriously by measuring and actively managing its carbon footprint. The need to reach net zero is urgent and requires every company and consumer to lean in. Through advocating for responsible and sustainable business practices, Audience Group is amplifying their impact and inspiring other their community to follow suit. We look forward to supporting them on their journey to net zero.”