Ad Net Zero has published a new set of recommendations developed by its Young Leaders Group, offering practical, people-centred steps to embed sustainability into everyday business strategy.
The recommendations are a direct response to industry research from the IPA which found high levels of climate anxiety among advertising professionals, alongside a lack of confidence in raising environmental concerns at work.
The Young Leaders propose four practical actions to be adopted by organisations of all sizes to turn awareness into action across the workforce, rather than treating sustainability as a specialist issue.
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The four recommendations are:
- Make climate literacy a standard skill. Sustainability should be treated as a core business capability. The Young Leaders call for climate literacy training to be embedded into onboarding and professional development for all employees, ensuring teams understand the climate crisis, the industry’s role, and the practical steps they can take to reduce impact.
- Flip the model with reverse mentoring. Pairing senior leaders with emerging talent creates space for honest, informed conversations about sustainability, innovation and decision-making. Reverse mentoring helps embed sustainability thinking at the highest levels of leadership while empowering the next generation to shape long-term strategy.
- Make sustainability part of everyday conversation. Too often, sustainability is siloed or communicated sporadically. The recommendations encourage organisations to integrate sustainability into internal communications year-round, normalising progress updates, sharing challenges openly, and building trust and engagement across teams.
- Introduce sustainability into metrics and appraisals. To avoid sustainability being deprioritised, it must be measured. Embedding sustainability goals into KPIs, performance reviews and incentive structures help align environmental responsibility with business outcomes and reduces the risk of greenwashing.
Helena Houghton-Casella, impact manager, Open Media, said: “As Young Leader Committee representative, I am proud to launch these recommendations to the advertising industry. They represent the culmination of focused effort by a dedicated working group; all driven by a personal commitment to encourage action on climate change and make lasting improvements across the media landscape. Simply put, we have provided a step-by-step guide to improving any organisation’s ESG efforts, regardless of how far along in the journey you are.”
Alessandra Bellini OBE, Ad Net Zero UK Chair, added: “I love the recommendations as they are simple, clear and, probably, more effective than a complex set of principles and actions. At the core of them, it’s personal accountability and collective responsibility to be a learning and developing organisation through the lens of sustainability. Once again, our younger leaders show they can be wiser than the wise ones.”
Created by a cohort of more than 40 emerging professionals from across agencies, media owners, brands and industry partners, the recommendations are the result of a year-long workstream involving workshops, leadership presentations, forums and cross-company participation. Contributors represent dozens of businesses across the advertising ecosystem, reflecting a shared recognition that climate action must be accelerated collectively if it is to succeed.
Seb Munden CBE, Ad Net Zero Global Chair, concluded: “The Young Leaders propose some very sensible and straightforward ways to reinforce the self-evident truth that future-proofing businesses has to be done now and cannot be left for some far-off mythical perfect moment.
“The impact of climate change on livelihoods and well-being around the world is already happening. Leaders who can steer the course to better business while delivering on the present are in high demand, and as this group shows there are good people up for the challenge.”
