It was clear at Advertising Week New York that media buyers and publishers understand that sustainability is a necessary foundation for their work, and they’re working hard to find solutions to reduce their carbon footprints. OpenX is committed to sustainability, not just for our own company but for our customers and partners, too. We know that things get complicated quickly. Knowing how to actually make a measurable impact can be tough.
Our recently published eBook on sustainability, Getting Smart on Sustainability in Adtech, covers the information to help you ask the right questions, take the right steps and choose the right partners.
We’ve drawn from our experience as the first and only ad exchange to achieve CarbonNeutral® certification, as a signer to the Science Based Targets initiative and as sustainable-product innovators. The eBook pulls together details across the complicated world of tech sustainability and distills them into a digestible, actionable framework. We’ve laid out the most important terms, standards and methodologies being used at a global scale. We’ve dug into how they apply to the adtech world. We’ve provided actionable insights you can use to make informed choices.
Here’s some of what the eBook covers:
Carbon emissions occur all along the digital supply chain, from the data processing and storage that occurs at data centers to the data transfers required for loading ads to the energy consumed by end-user devices. SeenThis estimates that 40 billion digital impressions will emit 8,000 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of 200 million plastic bags.
The impact of advertising on carbon emissions and the environment is significant, but there is a way forward.
The first step to reducing emissions is to rely on The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which outlines the three types of emissions to be measured and reduced. Scope 1 covers the direct emissions from company-owned assets, such as factories and vehicles. Scope 2 covers indirect emissions, including electricity use. Scope 3 covers emissions not directly owned or produced by the company but created by business activity.
Reducing all three types of emissions requires real business change — adjusting supply chains, production steps and capital investments. For OpenX, it meant becoming the first and only ad exchange to achieve CarbonNeutral® certification. Reducing Scope 3 emissions requires that teams ask their partners tough questions, measure new metrics and ensure their sustainability priorities align.
The key to sustainability results is tackling the issue with the right partners. In our eBook, we lay out practical tips for choosing the right partnerships and ensuring your current partners are meeting your standards and goals.
Any actual, measurable and impactful changes require real business adjustments. To get there, you need clarity and confidence — and our eBook can give you that.
Find the full eBook here.