Ad Net Zero Ireland Hosts Inaugural Sustainability Summit: Pathway to Progress

Pathway to Progress was the theme of Ad Net Zero Ireland’s inaugural Sustainability Summit that took place in the CHQ building in Dublin on Wednesday 1st May. 

That sentiment of progress was carried through the morning with presentations, case studies and a Panel discussion from agency, platform and brand managers, who delivered speeches to a full house of almost 200 professionals from every sector of the industry.

Peter Nolan from Indeed spoke about their journey so far being a Global supporter of Ad Net Zero and how it has helped them align to a framework that has supported their work across the business.

Thomas Geoghegan from PHD Media and Ciara Breen from Skoda Ireland presented their campaign that took home Gold in the 2024 Media Awards, for the Best Sustainability Initiative.

Gareth Fitzpatrick, managing director of Havas Media spoke to the group about bridging the ‘Say Do’ gap for consumers and about the importance of working with experts to help set ambitions for the future.

And as talk turned to festival season, Michelle Rowley from Heineken Ireland presented ‘Heineken’s Greener Bar’ an initiative from Electric Picnic last year, as she took us through the customer journey embracing Rethink, Reuse, Recycle at every turn.

Mary O’Sullivan from Ad Net Zero spoke about the 5 Action Point Framework and the resources that are available for all supporters to access and how important it is for us to just get started. “We have known for the past number of years that there is a palatable appetite for our industry to collaborate on this subject. To learn more and to do more. The turnout here this morning, and the interest there has been in this event since we announced it, is proof of that.”

Shane McGonigle, CEO of the Marketing Institute of Ireland chaired the Panel Discussion, chatting with David Heaney from Diageo, Claire Hyland from THINKHOUSE, Sandra Doyle from Global Out of Home and Colette Henry from Droga5.

The take home from the panel was simple - we need to start thinking differently about sustainability. Taking it out of Green Groups and placing it at the heart of everything we do in our business. We need to start thinking about the gap between what our consumers tell us they want versus what they actually purchase and why.

In other words: “Our job is not to make humans more sustainable, but to make sustainability more human” 

Ad Net Zero is a global initiative to support all professionals working withing the media, advertising and production industry, and help them in their drive to lower emissions.

The framework is now in operation in Ireland, the UK, New Zealand, the US, UAE and has commenced a European Hub to support other European countries with their sustainability agendas, through the Ad Net Zero framework.

For additional information about Ad Net Zero visit Ad Net Zero Ireland.