Ad Net Zero at Cannes Lions 2025: Advocating Sustainability at the Heart of Creativity and Innovation

27 June 2025

Members of the Ad Net Zero team returned to Cannes Lions in June 2025 with a strong presence across key events and panel discussions alongside media coverage championing sustainability across the advertising ecosystem.  

From the widely supported launch of the Global Media Sustainability Framework (GMSF) v1.2, to discussions on opportunities for creativity to support more sustainable behaviours, and the celebration of award-winning creative work by supporters — the week highlighted the growing integration of sustainability into brand, agency, and ad supply chain priorities. Despite a general trend of quieter climate action, it was evident that sustainability is continuing to take root. 

A Week of Panels, Partnerships and Purpose 

The Ad Net Zero team took part in over a dozen events throughout the week, engaging with brands, media owners, ad tech providers and creative leaders. A heartfelt thank you to our supporters who invited us to collaborate and provided valuable opportunities for discussion. More specific Thank You’s below! 

Highlights included: 

Monday: Our Global Charter Steering Group members met in the morning to discuss Ad Net Zero programme priorities and future initiatives– Thank you to Meta for hosting us at their space. Later, we supported networking at the Google Beach Welcome Reception and attended Scope3’s Opening Night Party. 

Tuesday: A pivotal day that saw the formal launch of the Global Media Sustainability Framework with Mastercard, IAB Europe, and Impact+ demonstrating support on a lively panel. Other events included: 

  • A toast to the GMSF and all contributors hosted by Google.  
  • Duration Media’s ‘Annual Sustainable Media Roundtable Lunch’, co-hosted with Ad Net Zero for the third year in a row, where Dr Bill Wescott, lead climate advisor to Ad Net Zero, spoke about what we can expect as the world’s leading brands start to look more closely at the environmental impact of their advertising and media supply chains. 
  • Seb Munden, Global Chair of Ad Net Zero, joined Google’s “Sustainable Advertising” panel.  
  • TikTok and Scope3’s Responsible Media Forum. 

Wednesday: John Osborn moderated RTL’s Wake Up to a Smarter Sustainability Solution session, joined by speakers from Beiersdorf, Boehringer Ingelheim, OMD WW, and OMG EMEA. The panel marked the launch of Ad Net Zero’s updated carbon measurement standard, helping the industry tackle media emissions more consistently. Watch the full recording ⁠here.

Ad Net Zero also attended a Pubmatic x 51toCarbonZero breakfast, the Revolt: Cost of Silence luncheon, and contributed to Goals House: Climate Storytelling. 

Thursday: John Osborn spoke at DEPT’s AI, Climate, and the Future of Brand Action panel, joined by Ad Net Zero supporters Diageo and 51-0. We also joined a fireside chat with supporter Assembly at their Sport Beach. 

The LIONS Sustainability Hub in the Palais, in partnership with ACT Responsible, is the home of the sustainability conversation at the Festival. Open every day to delegates, it’s filled with inspirational work, ideas for practical action and a place to meet like-minded individuals. 

On Tuesday morning, Ad Net Zero led a launch event for the evolved Global Sustainability Framework (GMSF – more on this below!), hosted by ACT Responsible and the IAA Global Sustainability Council. GMSF Director Anthony Falco was joined by Jay Altschuler from Mastercard, Audrey Danthony from Impact Plus, and Dimitris Beis from IAB Europe. 

On Wednesday, Ad Net Zero participated in the annual Open House for Good on Wednesday afternoon, when the foyer opens to all without a delegate pass. It was brilliant to hear from changemakers across the industry, including our Chair Sebastian Munden.
 

CMO Leadership – Sustainability as a priority for strategy and operations 

The UN Global Compact ‘CMO BLUEPRINT FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH‘ had its launch on Thursday 19th June, supported by Mastercard, Kantar, Diageo, Asahi and well as Ad Net Zero.  

Developed with insights from leading CMOs and industry organizations, the CMO Blueprint provides a practical, global framework for integrating sustainability into marketing strategy and operations. 

The launch received wide media coverage, including from ESG News, which outlined that the Blueprint, created by the UN Global Compact CMO Think Lab, addresses three core ambitions: 

  1. A unified, principles-based framework for sustainable marketing. 
  2. An industry benchmark to track progress and identify action gaps.
  3. A collaborative ecosystem of brands and partners reshaping marketing’s role in sustainability.

Ad Net Zero Global Media Sustainability Framework Launch 

Ad Net Zero launched its updated Global Media Sustainability Framework, a key initiative to develop a voluntary standard and improve the accuracy of carbon measurement in media planning, a vital step towards net zero given the magnitude of media driven emissions- as much as 54% of total emissions from the marketing lifecycle according to research from WPP. 

With individual agencies creating different calculators and methodologies, some media plans showed 4x differences in carbon footprint calculations for similar campaigns, clearly unsustainable for the industry. (Campaign, 2025) 

Thanks to our many supporters who helped amplify the launch on social media.  

Thanks too, to the brands and marketers implementing these standards already, such as global skin care company Beiersdorf, now working with OMD and OMG Sustainable Solutions to put the standardized approach to carbon measurement into practice. They will be using the GMSF to calculate digital channels first, before expanding it to all channels with the extended version 1.2, turning the voluntary industry standard into practice at scale. See more here. 

Media coverage included: 

Trade Press:  

International Press:  

Every Brief Counts: Advertising’s Opportunity to Inspire Behavioural Change

Ad Net Zero’s Every Brief Counts initiative was cited in Kantar’s sustainability insights as a toolkit to help creatives make more sustainable behaviours visible in their work. 

According to Kantar: 

“Out of 6,400 ads tested by Kantar clients between November 2024 and May 2025, only 6% include sustainable behaviours either in the background or foreground.” 

At the Open House For Good hub, Kantar and Ad Net Zero shared a preview of what’s to come: 

“We’ll be returning in Autumn 2025 with further insights from the Sustainable Behaviours Ad Tracker and hoping to see evidence of more advertisers in more markets doing their bit.” 

Creative Work Driving Climate Action  

Cannes Lions 2025 also celebrated many powerful campaigns that advanced sustainability though climate awareness and action,  

including some by Ad Net Zero supporters. We’ve included a few examples below, and we’ll share our full review of 130+ campaigns for Ad Net Zero supporters in early July. 

Nature as an Artist 

Advertiser: Spotify 

Agency: AKQA 

One of the most award-winning campaigns in all of Cannes, with one Grand Prix, one Gold, two Bronze, and three shortlisted, Spotify’s ‘Nature as an Artist’ not only raised awareness and love for nature through 3.7 billion impressions and 150 million streams, but raised $750,000 and counting for nature conversation. Nature is now in the top 1% of Spotify artists worldwide. 

The Flame That Wasn’t A Flame

Advertiser: EDF

Agency: Havas Media France, Havas Play and BETC

Winner of one Silver Lion and shortlisted for two more, this campaign reimagined the Olympic torch through the lens of low-carbon storytelling.

As noted in Havas Media Network’s post about the win – “This campaign is a true testament to the power of collaboration – showcasing what’s possible when we work as one”.

Lay’s Reviving Mitti

Advertiser: Lay’s

Agency: Leo Burnett

Lay’s partners with over 27,000 farmers to grow special-grade potatoes for chips. The breakthrough came by treating soil like a patient with medical history. “Reviving Mitti” shifted focus from geography-based testing to history-based insights. We gathered crop history from 9,000 acres and built an open-source, cloud database. Now active across 67,000 acres, the project is restoring soil, boosting yield, and helping secure Lay’s India’s path to become a $1B brand.

Adding a poetic dimension to this initiative is the launch of a short lyrical film, ‘Mitti Ki Chitthi’, that personifies the Earth as a mother writing to her daughter — the farmer.

The Wash Less Project

Advertiser: Whirlpool

Agency: VML Italy

A washing machine brand advocate for washing less. Results:

91.13% found admirable that a washing machine brand encourages less washing

89.68% believe Whirlpool helps act more sustainably

70.2% of users would reduce laundry by one cycle weekly, creating significant resource savings, with a realistic potential annual savings of 1679.2 L of water and 10.1 kg of CO2 per household.

“The ‘Wash Less Project’ perfectly embodies the VML philosophy: seamlessly blending strategy, creativity, and innovation to generate positive impact, even on society. It’s the brand’s imperative to offer concrete, authentic proof of sustainable commitment. Creativity not only credibly communicates these efforts but transforms environmental challenges into powerful opportunities for transformation, differentiation, and growth.”- Michele Picci, Group CCO of VML Italy

Endless Runway

Advertiser: eBay

Agency: Edelman

eBay exists to power the circular economy. Its purpose is rooted in extending the life of things — helping people find what they love while reducing waste.

Endless Runway brought that purpose to life in fashion’s most prestigious spaces.

By curating runway shows entirely from secondhand pieces — and making every look instantly available to shoppers — we proved that eBay isn’t just a marketplace. It’s a movement. One that empowers consumers to shop sustainably without sacrificing style.

The $1M Circular Fashion Fund further cemented eBay’s commitment, providing support to innovators building a more sustainable fashion future.

Endless Runway made eBay’s mission visible, desirable, and aspirational. It turned values into action — and proved that fashion’s future doesn’t have to be wasteful.

It can be endless.

Sustainability in the Spotlight: Wider Coverage & Industry Reflections 

Credible Climate Communication: A Recurring Theme 

In Campaign’s article, “From Silence to Success: Four Steps to Confident Climate Communication”, Seb Munden, Global Chair of Ad Net Zero, addressed the growing gap between climate ambition and communication: 

“You’ve got to see the hard evidence. Once you’ve seen it, put it in your advertising with confidence. If you haven’t seen the evidence, and its corporate hearsay, do not do it.” 

The piece spotlighted the fact that environmental messaging by companies has dropped by 76% over the past three years, underscoring the urgency of honest, data-backed storytelling. 

AI and Sustainability at Cannes Lions 2025 

AI as a Double-Edged Sword  

AI presents significant opportunities for optimizing campaigns, reducing media waste, and improving the efficiency of advertising – potentially lowering the industry’s carbon footprint- but at the same time is increasing the amount of energy and resources needed to run the large-scale AI models and data centres.  

The IEA predicts that “Global electricity generation to supply data centres is projected to grow from 460 TWh in 2024 to over 1 000 TWh in 2030”, while the WSJ reported Don McGuire, CMO at Qualcomm, stated the company is “saving 2,400 hours a month by using an AI agent-building tool called Writer”.  

Quantifying and balancing these time and energy savings vs costs is vital to determining whether AI can contribute to sustainability efforts or detract from them.  

“Yes, AI is very carbon intensive, and we need to use it in a more responsible way” says Richard Davis, CEO of 51-0, in their post-Cannes video, but “it can also be part of the solution, helping us put wastage or diminished waste within the whole marketing ecosystem.”

John Osborn joined Diageo and 51-0 at DEPT®’s Panel, ‘The Signal and the Noise – AI, Climate and Brand Action’, to explore how brands can communicate with credibility while navigating rapid AI advancements and carbon reduction goals. 

Pooja Dindigal, DEPT’s Global Head of Impact, wrote: 

“Cannes may not be at the centre of conversations on sustainability and impact, but I’m inspired by the industry leaders seeking to transform it from within — all while making it fun and using AI for good.” 

Following the launch of their ‘Agentic Media Platform’ earlier this year, Scope3 hosted a ‘Powering sustainable growth in the Agentic Era’, showing how scalable AI and sustainable media practices are revolutionizing marketing, designed to “usher in a new era of marketing transformation”. 

Campaign’s like FCB and Hyundai Motor’s ‘Tree Correspondents’ , which won two Gold Lions and one Silver Lion in the ‘Digital Craft’ category, demonstrated innovative and effective uses of AI to back up sustainability focused campaigns, using “data from The Weather Company and AI to analyse ecological data from global IONIQ Forests, providing insights into forest health and biodiversity through innovative storytelling. That’s not just award-worthy creativity — it’s future-proof thinking.” 

Further Reading: 

UN Global Compact Launches CMO Blueprint for Sustainable Growth at Cannes Lions – ESG News 

Sustainability | LIONS 

Ozlem (D) Senturk – Launch of the UNGC CMO Blueprint for Sustainable Growth initiative. 

Cannes reflections: Sustainability efforts present but not prominent – The Media Leader 

CMO Blueprint for Sustainable Growth Launch Event