FROM WHY TO DO: TURNING NATURE INTO BUSINESS PRACTICE
Building on the foundation of Ad Net Zero’s Nature series Session 1 which covered ‘Why Nature is the Bedrock of Business Resilience’, this Session 2 focused on what it means to “do” nature within the media and advertising ecosystem. Moving from theory into practice, the discussion explored how service-based businesses can mitigate risk and unlock direct business value through nature-centric decision-making.
Through a series of case studies, speakers from media owners to media agencies demonstrated how nature is already being embedded into operations, media models, and commercial strategy – reframing it as a business imperative rather than a standalone sustainability issue.
The Guardian’s journey to understanding nature impact through its supply chain
Julie Richards, Director of Sustainability & Operational Transformation at The Guardian, offered insight into how a media organisation is assessing and acting on its impact on nature through a biodiversity audit.
Conducted in collaboration with academic partners, the audit revealed that 68% of The Guardian’s nature impact sits within its newspaper supply chain, including paper sourcing, inks, and distribution.
This process helped uncover hidden impacts not visible through carbon reporting alone, while also confirming that existing emissions reduction efforts would deliver broader benefits for nature.
Critically, the work enabled more informed decision-making across procurement and operations — from reducing print waste to embedding circularity into business processes.
Julie emphasised the importance of keeping nature work practical and action-oriented, starting with existing data, focusing on material impact areas, and using insights to guide decisions rather than striving for reporting perfection.
MG OMD’s approach to embedding nature into media investment
Tim Pritchard, Head of Content and Responsible Media at media agency MG OMD, introduced the concept of “Media in Service of Nature”, demonstrating how media spend can be used as a mechanism to fund nature restoration.
Developed from their client giffgaff’s “Up to Good Fund,” (giffgaff is a B-Corp UK-based mobile virtual network operator), the model redirects existing media investment into nature-positive outcomes, rather than requiring new funding.
This is delivered through a tripartite approach, where advertisers, agencies, and media partners each contribute a portion of spend into a shared fund supporting verified restoration projects.
The initiative shows how nature can be embedded directly into media planning, buying, and supply chains, transforming sustainability from a separate initiative into a core part of how media operates.
Tim also highlighted growing regulatory and advertiser scrutiny around biodiversity and supply chains, reinforcing the need for scalable, commercially viable solutions that can be adopted across the industry.
DIVE’s Wild Spaces: creating commercial models that fund nature
Rich Williams, Partner, Commercial & Strategy at DIVE, the creative agency for cinema, shared how the Wild Spaces fundraising initiative that demonstrates that nature-based solutions can be both impactful and commercially viable.
Developed in partnership with Pearl & Dean and UK National Parks, the model allows advertisers to pay a premium for placements that directly fund nature restoration, while integrating storytelling into cinema experiences.
The initiative has achieved significant scale, reaching over 20 million admissions and delivering strong audience engagement, with 90% of viewers reporting feeling inspired to protect nature and one of the participating brand’s desirability scores increased by 46% after appearing in Wild Spaces
This approach shows that sustainability can become a sellable product within media, delivering value for brands, audiences, and the environment simultaneously. It also reinforces that innovation can start within teams and scale over time, without waiting for top-down mandates.
Immediate Media’s Make a Metre Matter: engaging audiences through simple action
Kevin Smith, Content Director at Immediate Media (a publishing house including BBC Gardeners’ World), demonstrated how content-led initiatives can drive both engagement and impact through the “Make a Metre Matter” campaign.
The campaign encourages audiences to take a simple, tangible action — transforming one square metre for nature — aligning closely with audience interests and behaviours.
Its success has been driven by authentic storytelling and strong partnerships, including collaboration with 30x30UK and commercial partners to scale the initiative.
This example highlights that nature initiatives are most effective when they are accessible, relevant, and rooted in audience passion, with commercial opportunities emerging from meaningful engagement.
The Takeouts: From indirect impact to direct influence across the supply chain
Across all speakers, a clear shift emerged: service-based businesses may not directly extract from nature, but they have significant influence over how supply chains operate, how media spend flows, and how audiences engage with nature.
And this drives direct business benefit through creating stronger partner relationships, consumer experience and employee engagement.
Whether through measurement, media investment, commercial innovation, or content, each example demonstrated that nature can be embedded into core business functions — not treated as an add-on.
The opportunity for the industry is to move beyond minimising harm, towards actively supporting nature recovery through the systems it already controls and influences.
