The science is clear: to keep global temperatures from rising 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels, we all have to halve global emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.

WPP has been actively reducing the carbon emissions produced by our operations since 2006. We are now setting targets that increase the rate of reduction to go beyond the required carbon reductions outlined in the Paris Agreement. We are also broadening our commitment to include the emissions produced in our supply chain as well as those from our direct operations. We’re doing this because it is right thing to do, and we are sharing our goals in this plan because we recognise that to meet our targets, we need to collaborate with others.

Our goals

We will reduce the emissions from our own operations to net zero by 2025. Our own operational emissions (known as scope 1 and 2 emissions) are those we have most direct control over – our company cars, natural gas usage and the electricity we use in our buildings. These account for 1.7% of our total carbon footprint.

We will reach net zero in our supply chain by 2030. Our supply chain emissions (known as scope 3 emissions) come from the products and services we buy, such as cloud space or the materials we use to produce advertising content. These emissions account for 98.3% of our total carbon footprint. Our goal includes an industry-first: we are including the carbon emitted from the advertising we place in the media on behalf of our clients – which represent over half (55%) of all the emissions in our supply chain – in our target to reach net zero.

Next steps

We will reduce emissions across our business first, going as far and as quickly as possible. We will continue the work we've already started on reducing emissions from our own operations (our scope 1 and 2 emissions). We will also work with our suppliers and clients to go as fast as we can towards bringing our scope 3 emissions to net zero too.

We will source all our electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Globally, in 2020 we sourced 65% of the electricity we use from renewable sources: in the United States, Canada, the UK and most of our European markets 100% of our electricity was renewable. We are building on this foundation so that by 2025, 100% of our electricity will come from renewable sources.

Given that WPP and our supply chain represent a significant portion of our clients’ own carbon footprints, our commitment to reach net zero by 2030 will help ensure they can meet their own targets. Many of our clients are already making great progress on reducing their own emissions and two-thirds of our top 50 clients have already committed to setting science-based targets. We will continue to support them to reach their targets by working with our suppliers to reduce emissions from the advertising they place. Many media owners are already investing heavily in measuring and reducing their carbon emissions. Through GroupM, WPP’s media investment company, we will work with our media partners to develop industry-wide standards for measuring and eliminating the carbon emitted from the placement of advertising in the media.

We will share what we learn about how to reduce emissions effectively as we go. We can only achieve our targets with the collaboration of our suppliers to reduce the carbon footprint of the products and services we buy. WPP’s agency GroupM, the world’s largest media investment company, has already created – and open-sourced – a carbon calculator designed to determine the emissions impact of media plans, and we will continue to share our innovations so that our industry can join us in our ambition.

We will publish our progress against these targets every year in our Annual Report and Sustainability Report. We will also report our progress via CDP, a not-for-profit charity, formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project, that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts.

We will submit our emissions reduction targets to the Science Based Targets initiative for validation. We are the world’s largest producer of advertising content and the world’s largest buyer of advertising space, which means we have the opportunity to make a real difference. We look forward to working with all our partners – many of whom have already made great strides in this area – to develop standards that will benefit the whole industry, our clients and our wider communities.