Through participation in responsible business network Business in the Community Northern Ireland’s (BITCNI) Climate Action Programme, the company has been supported to identify and understand its carbon footprint, and to implement relevant changes throughout its structure and supply chain.

Background

Ardmore believes that climate change is a defining business issue of our time, and that if organisations are to make a difference here in Northern Ireland, the time to act is now.

With this in mind, Ardmore decided to set three climate-related goals:

1. Reduction of its operational carbon footprint to net zero.
2. Reduction of the carbon footprint of the creative campaigns it produces and advertises for its clients.
3. Utilisation of communications to promote more sustainable consumer choices and behaviours.

What the company did

Ardmore’s first objective was to learn all that it could about reducing its carbon footprint, so the company made no delay in signing up to the Climate Action Programme. Through the programme, Ardmore’s Strategic Business Director, Paul James, received accredited Carbon Literacy training and the company participated in a series of bespoke carbon footprinting workshops with an environmental expert.

With this training, Ardmore was able to identify and better understand its carbon footprint. It set out on its climate action journey with its adaptation of the UN’s Race to Zero Framework: Pledge, Plan, Proceed, Publish, Platform for Change.

As its first step after the programme, Ardmore signed BITCNI’s Climate Action Pledge. The Pledge necessitates annual reporting of scopes 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the mapping out of scope 3 emissions, so Ardmore completed a rigorous assessment with Planet Mark – a globally-recognised certification for progress and excellence in sustainability – to measure and better understand its current climate impact.

In line with the Climate Action Pledge, Ardmore’s next and ongoing challenge is to establish an evidence-based plan to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030, and to begin to measure and reduce its scope 3 emissions. Ardmore’s baseline report has highlighted its buildings and business travel as primary focus areas, and the agency is proceeding with several initiatives to maximise the use of renewable energy.

Since taking part in the Climate Action Programme, Ardmore has created and published an agency-wide initiative called the Ardmore Climate Target (ACT) Collective, to build a platform for change amongst its staff, clients, and supply chain.

“The engagement we enjoyed with businesses (big and small) from other sectors was priceless and opened our eyes to risks and emission factors that we would not naturally have thought of.

We would, of course, recommend the Climate Action Programme to any business that is ready to take action. It is an outstanding place to start”

Paul James, Strategic Business Director,  Ardmore Advertising & Marketing

Click here to watch Paul Bowen, Executive Creative Director, speak about Ardmore’s involvement in the Climate Action Programme.

Impacts and Outcomes

• Through analysis of everything from energy-efficient buildings to waste management and recycling, travel, transport, and hybrid working practices, Ardmore produced an overall climate impact score, from which it established a new sustainability goal.
• Following a Staff Climate Action Energiser with its partner Planet Mark, Ardmore’s Climate Target (ACT) Collective is now delving into Project Drawdown for initiatives to inspire staff to reduce their daily carbon footprint regarding food consumption, transport, energy consumption and waste.
• Ardmore has become the first agency in Northern Ireland to enrol with UK ad agency trade body The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) on its Media Climate Charter – which measures, reduces and offsets carbon emissions from advertising media – and is beginning to roll this initiative out to more clients.

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