A new report from NGO Planet Tracker has slammed various advertising companies, including Dentsu, Havas, IPG, Omnicom Group, Publicis and WPP for their lack of ESG commitment.
Within, it calls on investors to reassess their approach to funding the holding companies with carbon intensive clients.
Numerous leading agencies worldwide, collectively valued at £647bn, are affiliated with holding companies. Some of these agencies have clients involved in the fossil fuel industry.
It notes that while the digital space is dominated by private companies, the traditional advertising space continues to be largely held by the holding companies.
The report goes on to highlight that as well as clients in the fossil fuel industry, holding companies have high profile polluting clients within plastic, fast fashion, IT, and food and beverages.
It also shows that the top ten shareholders for each of the holding companies include major investment firms, for instance the shareholder with the largest greenhouse gas footprint out of the shareholders, is BlackRock according to Planet Tracker’s analysis.
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It urges shareholders to encourage holding companies to transition from “changing client attitudes from within” to refusing to work for environmentally harmful clients.
It also suggests that agencies should actively work to transition their clients to sustainable business models, and calls for the introduction of scorecards reflecting agency client footprint profiles.
In addition, the report notes that employee dissatisfaction could amount to hefty costs with employee costs amounting to 63% of total costs.
Th release comes amid reports of discontent by some employees, with Extinction Rebellion suggesting recently that they had been contacted by whistle blowers.
The NGO is calling on agencies to consider the financial implications highlighted in the report, which not only include employee costs but also potential write-offs affecting the coverage of debt liabilities by assets.
