While client climate commitments waver, some media agencies are doubling down

Last week, Stagwell media agency Assembly certified its European and Asia-Pacific businesses as B Corps. Its U.S., African and Indian businesses are also going through the certification process. At the same time, global full-service agency Dept re-certified its B Corp status — expanding its climate and social commitments beyond its European base and across its global network.

Less attention has been given to the companies pulling back from sustainability promises than to those retreating from diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) commitments in recent weeks and months. Amazon, Meta, Publicis Groupe and McDonald’s are among the companies that have reset their DE&I policies, for example.

But following the inauguration of President Donald “drill, baby drill” Trump in January, climate commitments could well be the next frontline between right wing politicians and the advertising world. 

That month, the six largest banks in the U.S., including JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo — as well as asset management firm BlackRock — announced their withdrawal from a collective agreement first signed at Cop26, which pledged to support net zero-aligned investments. The announcement came just a week before the Palisades Fire began tearing through much of Los Angeles County.

“There’s quite a lot of negative discourse at the moment surrounding sustainability and companies pulling targets and their commitments,” said Gaby Sethi, head of global impact at Assembly. In addition to its B Corp certification, ​​Wayne Blodwell, Assembly’s recently appointed global svp of programmatic, has been tasked with making the agency’s media trading practices more environmentally sustainable, according to Sethi. 

“We are using this as a moment to double down on what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, and making sure that our people know that we’re not going to be swayed,” she said.

It’s a marked change from the business atmosphere of just a few years ago, when companies forged ahead on climate promises and the industry’s biggest players made public pledges to reduce advertising’s direct impact on the environment.

Since 2022 GroupM, for example, has worked to reduce its carbon emissions per media impressions by half, by the end of the decade. It’s unclear how far along the media network is in that goal, but in its most recent update on its progress (in WPP’s 2024 annual report), GroupM owner WPP reported it had reduced its CO2 emissions 18% year-on-year.

A spokesperson for the network told Digiday that its commitments are “key” to competitive reviews, but especially for ones covering EMEA. It’s less of a concern for U.S. clients.

B Corp status is a difficult label to acquire for many businesses — Sethi said the process took over two years for Assembly — and requires that companies alter the legal “articles of incorporation” documents to include commitments to the planet and society, as well as to shareholders. 

Where it matters to clients, though, is during the initial stages of a competitive pitch. In October, for example, Chocolate brand Tony’s Chocolonely, for example, partially credited its decision to work with agency Total Mediaplus to its B Corp status.

Similarly, Sethi credited two client wins to the agency certifying as a B Corp, though she declined to name the new accounts. “Having the B Corp status has been really important,” she told Digiday.

For the most part, however, climate and sustainability commitments remain common ”hygiene factors” for brands reviewing prospective partners — not “deciding factors” — according to MediaSense’s chief strategy officer, Ryan Kangisser. “You want to know that you’re doing business with companies that are focused on the right things,” he said.

“I don’t think we’ve won any pitches on being B Corp in itself,” said Dept CEO Dimi Albers, who added that the badge gave agencies a calling card that expressed their values to clients. It hadn’t tipped Dept over the edge in a pitch, but he said: “Informally, I think it’s a massive difference maker.”

Even if B Corp status or other environmental commitments aren’t deciding factors for clients, they do help agencies recruit staff.

Albers said Dept’s B Corp status had helped it hire new talent since it first qualified, while Sethi told Digiday: “We’ve started to see it come [up] in the conversations we’re having with candidates.”

Ultimately, a claim to have access to the best talent can also become a selling point for an agency’s new business team. “For clients, that’s music to their ears,” said Kangisser.

Agencies act downstream of their clients, though.

Before Citi Bank and JP Morgan Chase cut their ties to the Net Zero Banking Alliance, several brands had already decided their commitments to climate-friendly business had become obstacles. In 2024, Nike laid off sustainability staffers during its summer restructuring; Crocs set its net zero target back another 10 years to 2040; and Coca-Cola and Nestlé missed virgin plastic-reduction targets.

That July four Havas agencies — the holding company was the first of the big agencies to embrace B Corp as a vehicle for environmental and social progress — were stripped of their accreditation by B Lab, the company that manages the scheme, after it decided Havas Media Network’s appointment to Shell’s global media account was ”a breach of the B Corp community’s core values.”

And the Global Media Sustainability Framework (GMSF), initially unveiled by the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and Ad Net Zero at Cannes Lions — was then left without its central patron after GARM folded under the pressure of an Elon Musk lawsuit.

After years of mounting climate commitments from advertisers, Dept global impact lead Pooja Dingidal said companies must now factor in a political “backlash” to their thinking about risk.

Meanwhile, those that would like to jettison eco-friendly policies to aid the bottom line have the political cover to do so. It would be unsurprising if, now that some advertisers are taking their foot off the gas, agencies consider following in their wake.

While Assembly and Dept are sticking to their promises — others may decide that if clients aren’t impressed, the work of B Corp accreditation or net zero targets aren’t worth it.