• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, November 10, 2022

GroupM, which has accelerated a variety of initiatives to begin using its media-buying clout -- as well as its clients -- to fight climate change and decarbonize the media industry, this morning unveiled a "Client Coalition" comprised of more than 20 of its biggest clients to accelerate those efforts.

The coalition, which represents nearly $10 billion in combined global ad spending, will unify their shared commitment to "accelerate the decarbonization of the world's media supply chain," the agency said.

While GroupM did not disclose the identities of all of the coalition's members, it said founding members include: GroupM, its agencies Mindshare, Wavemaker, EssenceMediacom, and clients Audible, AXA, Bayer, Danone, Deutsche Telekom Mars, Paramount, Sony and Tesco.

GroupM said the initial members are its clients, but it invited any marketers committed to decarbonization to join by contacting mediadecarb@groupm.com.

The coalition follows GroupM's launch in July of a proposed framework for measuring ad-based carbon emissions, including its push to create an industry standard calculator for measuring the impact various media have in their carbon footprint

Speaking for the coalition, GroupM said it "will also insist on accurate, standardized emissions reporting by platforms, publishers, and media suppliers. Collectively, the coalition will advance and incentivize efforts across the industry to reduce the total amount of carbon created by the placement and consumption of advertising."

GroupM said the coalition was inspired by the success of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM0, which GroupM helped kickstart in 2019 to set more consistent brand safety controls and guidelines across the industry.

“The most important and immediate step we can take to address the climate crisis is to align on a single set of industry standards for carbon measurement,” said Kieley Taylor, global head of partnerships at GroupM. “This step is crucial to create a common language across the advertising ecosystem so we can go beyond measurement debates to focus on reducing and eliminating ad-based carbon emissions with our partners. Fighting climate change is the challenge of our lifetimes, and we’re excited to show the world the impact we can make when we all work together.”

A steering committee made up of representatives from coalition companies and chaired by Olivieri will govern and set the agenda for the coalition’s activities. Committee representatives will participate in workstreams, share learnings from their companies’ sustainability activities, evaluate initiatives executed inside and outside the coalition, provide feedback on proposed vendor solutions, and pursue opportunities for collaborative innovation.