WPP has been named and shamed by the sustainability target setting organisation SBTi for failing meet crucial target-setting deadlines.
According to sustainability-focused publication Edie, the SBTi identified several businesses for failing to follow through on their commitments to set verified climate targets.
Among the businesses named were the world’s biggest meat producer JBS, eyewear brand Ace and Tate and financial information service S&P global.
The SBTi has changed its approach from removing companies that fail to comply after a warning from the dashboard (which it updates every Thursday) to keeping them on the dashboard with the phrase “commitment removed”.
It comes after WPP was included in a report from NGO Planet Tracker, which slammed WPP alongside other holding companies including Dentsu, Omnicom Group, IPG and Publicis over their lack of ESG commitment.
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It highlighted that the holding companies have links with carbon intensive clients and called on investors to stop funding them.
Similarly, advertising group Havas has faced scrutiny over its links with fossil fuel giant Shell, which have seen it face protests from Extinction Rebellion activists.
In addition, B lab begun a formal review into the group after campaign group Clean Creatives called for its B Corp status to be investigated.
In addition to the link with polluting clients, according to an Invests Digital study last year the amount of digital waste produced by marketing amounted to the same amount of CO2 emissions as those from the global aviation industry.
