The marketing industry has long been associated with unsustainable business practices. From disguising the dirty deeds of major polluters to influencing behaviour that stretches planetary resources, imagining a cleaner future built from within sounds like a pipe dream. However, a new report argues that, in the same way the industry promotes overconsumption, it can lead the way out of the crisis, too. 

Purpose Disruptors’ latest study, Beyond the Chaos, Ahead of the Curve: How Smart Organisations Are Derisking in Turbulent Times, offers a first-of-its-kind blueprint for advertising, marketing, and PR agencies to integrate climate strategy into their core operations.

Developed in collaboration with Oxford’s Net Zero and the UN-backed Race to Zero, the report lands at a crucial time for an industry reckoning with its climate exposure. It demonstrates how creative agencies can identify and manage their “serviced emissions” — the downstream carbon impact of their client work — that threaten not only ecological stability but economic continuity itself.

“The industry is dramatically underestimating its climate risk,” said Jonathan Wise, Co-Founder of Purpose Disruptors. “Climate impacts are already decimating key crops such as coffee, cocoa and oranges. If your coffee, chocolate or orange juice client doesn’t have much product to sell, or the price is sky-high, they’re not going to advertise. It’s the board’s responsibility to be aware of these risks and plan accordingly.”

By the same token, in 2024, renewable energy investment doubled that spent on fossil fuels, marking a pivotal moment for the energy sector and its advertisers. Meanwhile, insurance companies are quietly rolling back their services — and their need for advertising — in key climate risk areas.

This highlights advertisements hidden climate exposure.

At current projections, the world is on track for 2.8°C of warming — far beyond safe limits for stable planetary ecosystems and thriving economies as we know them. The Purpose Disruptors report highlights that over half of global businesses rely on natural systems such as clean water, fertile soil, and stable weather, which are already under strain.

While these pressures threaten global trade and question the future of food systems and access to clean water, advertising carries its own unique vulnerability — it doesn’t just depend on these systems, it accelerates their depletion through serviced emissions. Driving consumption drives emissions, and the cycle continues.

To help agencies shift course, Purpose Disruptors created a framework, demonstrating how professional services can measure, manage, and reduce their serviced emissions and future-proof their business. Together with 30 senior practitioners across 23 creative agencies and media organisations, they stress-tested climate frameworks from Oxford Net Zero and Race to Zero in six key action areas.

Under the Serviced Emissions framework, agencies received practical tools to embed climate risk management into governance, stakeholder relationships, and creative client work.

The report also offers a “heatmap,” benchmarking industry readiness alongside perspectives from Oxford Net Zero, ClientEarth, the University of Portsmouth and Creatives for Climate.

“Good enterprise risk management means identifying all the threats and opportunities our business faces, inside and out,” added Paul Elliott, Group Director, Global Operations, Ebiquity. “The Serviced Emissions framework and our client disclosure report were invaluable to assess our readiness, not only to mitigate climate threats but to seize leadership opportunities. We now have a clear view of the actions needed to protect current value and create future value.”

The research builds on Purpose Disruptors’ work in 2021 on Advertised Emissions, which was the first to quantify the carbon impact of advertising-driven sales. It revealed that UK advertising in 2019 was linked to 186 million tonnes of CO₂, effectively increasing every citizen’s footprint by 28%. That methodology, later recognised by the UN Race to Zero, laid the foundation for Serviced Emissions, which applies the same logic across professional services. 

Amplify, a global experience agency and B Corp who piloted the framework, embedded sustainability governance in board decisions, using carbon data to inform client selection and strategy.

“More and more we find our clients, suppliers and audiences want responsible solutions — and they’re increasingly savvy at spotting disingenuous claims,” said Jonathan Emmins, Amplify’s Founder and Global CEO. “We’re focused on creative problem-solving that minimises negative impact and builds real value.”

At Elvis, also a certified B Corp, sustainability sits at the heart of the agency’s mission to use “unexpected and unforgettable creativity” for positive growth.

“The concept of Advertised Emissions is built on collective responsibility,” said Caroline Davison, Elvis’s Managing Director and Sustainability Lead. “Collaboration is the only way we’ll meet the scale of change required.”

Together, their experiences implementing the framework revealed key insights for the wider sector, paving the way for broader implementation and spearheading meaningful change within the sector.

When understanding the scale of emissions beyond business operations, serviced emissions are alarmingly high. However, addressing data quality and embedding sustainability into the core business strategy helps reduce these numbers. So, too, is it central to managing financial, regulatory, and reputational risk.

At the core, it’s crucial to embed sustainability at the executive level. Weaving climate accountability into business practices rather than relying on exhausted sustainability teams strengthens both creative and commercial outcomes.

Beyond the Chaos, Ahead of the Curve argues that the creative industries are uniquely positioned to accelerate (or derail!) the economic transition to net zero. As global regulations tighten and consumer awareness grows, integrating climate considerations into business models is no longer a publicity stunt on ethical business but a legitimate survival strategy.

“The Serviced Emissions framework provides a practical baseline to understand where your organisation is — and what to do next,” said Pamela Noakes, Group Director of Sustainability at M&C Saatchi. “Don’t wait for perfect data. Start now.”

COP30 Launch and Global Webinar

The report, published on 06 November, debuts for Purpose Disruptors at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, as part of their Decarbonising Creative Influence session alongside Creatives for Climate. This marks a major step in embedding serviced emissions across the global communications and services ecosystem.