Breaking Barriers: BLACKLIST Pioneers Authentic NetZero Journey to Drive Meaningful Change

In a world where climate news dominates headlines and the urgency of mitigating climate change looms large, corporations are increasingly compelled to respond to this existential threat. Yet, for companies in the creative sector, navigating the path to sustainability presents unique challenges and opportunities. In an industry where the average digital ad campaign releases 5.4 tons of carbon into the atmosphere – 35% more than the average person emits in an entire year - the environmental toll is impossible to ignore. Alongside this, less than 40% of agencies in the market have committed to Net Zero targets - a statistic that desperately needs to be improved.

Amidst this landscape, BLACKLIST has boldly embarked on a transformative journey towards sustainability leadership. Recognising the imperative to confront its environmental footprint, the company initiated efforts by gathering baseline data, analysing emissions sources, and crafting a comprehensive plan to drive reductions across its operations in London and Amsterdam. This includes implementing a sustainability policy, committing to long-term net zero targets, and fostering greater awareness among employees, clients, and partners. In a bold move to ensure that their targets are reached, Blacklist have redesigned their bonus structure to ensure that employees are rewarded for meeting the companies sustainability objectives.

Dom Ho has been leading the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda for BLACKLIST: “We have always prided ourselves on building a fair and inclusive workplace but this year we have stepped up our efforts to hold ourselves more accountable to the changes we want to see. Linking sustainability KPIs to individual employee bonuses was a big decision for us but we wanted to make sure that the whole business was aligned and driving these goals forward. Whilst delivering exceptional creative for our clients is always our priority - we are extremely conscious of the bigger role that our business plays in the world”.

Lola reflects that, "As our business grows, addressing our footprint becomes even more challenging and we recognise the need to balance business growth with emission reduction strategies.” For BLACKLIST, expanding into Location Based Entertainment (LBE) projects adds complexity to emission reduction efforts. Highlighting the need for greater industry collaboration BLACKLIST recognises that sustainable theme parks and resorts are too big a challenge to tackle without all the interconnected industries working together. To truly reduce their carbon footprint across these major projects, Dom Ho is driving an initiative to better engage BLACKLIST’s suppliers and clients from the outset. “We now review the sustainability policies of companies we work with to ensure we share alignment with science-based targets for emission reduction and we are confident that through working together we could have a huge impact”

Despite the efforts that are underway at BLACKLIST, the risk of greenwashing remains a challenge for the industry and underscores the importance of honesty and transparency in tackling the climate crisis. A fear of greenwashing accusations risks stalling action on climate change and has led to some industry players being reluctant to make their sustainability policies visible - especially in light of the latest guidance from the ASA on misleading environmental claims. One of the reasons that BLACKLIST has been keen to publicly share their approach is to keep driving the conversation forward. “We have taken this step knowing we won’t get it right straight away - but our view was that it is better to try our best and learn as we go - rather than take no action at all.” 

Additionally, to maintain a competitive edge and drive real change, it's imperative to be operating on a level playing field with competitors. “Recent investigations into the integrity of B-Corp accreditations have prompted us to consider all such initiatives carefully, as concerns arise about aligning with values. It's critical that companies are transparent in addressing the climate crisis, or our efforts will be in vain.” Blacklist's commitment to a Net Zero agenda goes beyond rhetoric, manifesting in concrete action. Through the concerted efforts of its newly formed sustainability committee, the company is transforming its operations to align with environmental goals, demonstrating authenticity and accountability in every decision and initiative.