Climate Change Data

Ascential plc

Climate Impact & Sustainability Data (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)

Reporting Period: 2019

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:565.10 tonnes of CO2
Scope 1 Emissions:12.56 tonnes of CO2
Scope 2 Emissions:522.54 tonnes of CO2
Carbon Intensity:24.55 Kg of CO2 per m2; 328.74 Kg of CO2 per FTE

ESG Focus Areas

  • Sustainability
  • Diversity & Inclusion

Environmental Achievements

  • Emissions decreased significantly over the three years of reporting, most notably in 2019 compared to the prior year. This is driven primarily by corporate activity (acquisitions and divestments), a significant reduction in the size of the Company vehicle fleet, and lower fossil fuel use in the electricity mix supplied to a number of our offices, particularly in the UK.

Social Achievements

  • Launched Ascential Wellbeing initiative to sustain good results on mental health; Retail Week’s Be Inspired programme increased attendance by 55%; Money20/20 Rise Up programme expanded globally; Cannes Lions See It Be It initiative reached 4,000 women globally; 48% of Cannes Lions jury members were female (up from 40% in 2016); Launched a global campaign around career development; Improved employee engagement score to 79.5%; 87% of employees agreed that anyone can thrive at Ascential regardless of their background.
  • Raised £387,835 for The Prince’s Trust; supported Just Like Us charity.

Governance Achievements

  • Refreshed Health & Safety Policy and established a Safety Committee; implemented a formal compliance framework; no reported breaches of the Bribery Act during 2019; 57% women on the plc Board; established an Ascential Employee Forum.

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

  • Economic and geopolitical conditions (Brexit, trade policy, exchange rate volatility); Competition; Execution of new product and capability development; Reliance on data providers; Venue availability, security and access; Business resilience; Financial risk; Regulation and compliance.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Recession modelling; Brexit impact assessment; monitoring geopolitical landscape; development of Ascential path-to-purchase proposition; integration of Edge; close monitoring of competitive landscape; prioritised allocation of resources to critical product development; investment in Edge by Ascential integrated platform; building strategic relationships with data suppliers; comprehensive security and safety plans for each event; Group Crisis Management Plan; High Availability Programme; long-term contracts with key suppliers; hedging borrowing structure; experienced legal and tax teams; global compliance programme.

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement
  • Third-Party Code of Conduct

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Sustainable Products & Innovation

  • WGSN Beauty

Reporting Period: 2021

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:730.05 tCO2e
Scope 1 Emissions:5.15 tCO2e
Scope 2 Emissions:724.9 tCO2e
Scope 3 Emissions:17.05 tCO2e (business travel and hotel emissions)
Total Energy Consumption:2,397,650 kWh
Carbon Intensity:24.55 kgCO2e/m², 328.74 kgCO2e/FTE (2021)

ESG Focus Areas

  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Climate Change Resilience
  • Supporting young people to thrive in a digital world

Environmental Achievements

  • Reduction in emissions due to Covid-19 restrictions (less offices open and significantly less international travel).
  • Changed default UK Pension fund to align with approach of reducing impact on Climate Change.
  • Cannes Lions 2022 developed to be the most sustainable edition of the event to date.

Social Achievements

  • 94% of employees feel proud to work at Ascential (up 3% from 2020) and 90% feel motivated (up 5% from 2020).
  • Awarded all permanent employees 700 free shares and a company-wide additional holiday.
  • Improved and relaunched the monthly Sustainability Bulletin.
  • Launched a range of initiatives to upskill team and clients on sustainability.

Governance Achievements

  • Appointed Paul Harrison as the Executive Director with responsibility to the Board for ESG matters.
  • Implemented a new global employee Code of Conduct alongside an upgraded whistleblowing tool.
  • Established and evolved our Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group.

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Create a workforce that fully reflects the ethnic diversity of our major markets before 2030
  • Ensure senior leadership represents an equal gender split before 2030
Medium-term Goals:
  • Set targets for event emissions reduction by 2023
  • Set targets regarding % of waste to landfill
Short-term Goals:
  • Develop plans to get to operational net zero by 2030
  • 100% of third-party data centres use renewable energy by 2025

Environmental Challenges

  • Global supply chain uncertainty.
  • Covid-19 impact on live events.
  • Changing market needs as customers work to improve their own sustainability performance.
  • Meeting reporting requirements to the frequency or quality required.
  • Avoidable waste from events becoming societally unacceptable.
  • Society moving away from current levels of consumerism.
  • Business disruption due to global factors or local incidences.
  • Customers perceiving emissions associated with attending events as a barrier to attendance.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Continued development of Ascential’s capabilities through acquisition and investment.
  • Strategy for live events developed to be less reliant on physical presence.
  • Monitoring organic and inorganic methods of remaining a dynamic and agile business in response to climate-related risks and opportunities.
  • Strengthening of ESG performance.
  • Cannes Lions 2022 developed to be the most sustainable edition of the event to date.
  • Investigating how to improve the environmental impact of Ascential’s other events.
  • Maintaining Ascential’s business continuity planning.
  • Demonstrating credentials as an industry leader in sustainable events.
  • Leveraging hybrid event offerings.
  • Reducing or offsetting emissions associated with delegate travel.

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement
  • Third Party Code of Conduct

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks
  • Business disruption from global factors or local incidences
Transition Risks
  • Changing business model
  • Carbon reporting
  • Changes in consumer behaviour
  • Event attendance
Opportunities
  • Aligning services with the value of purchased goods rather than volume of purchased goods

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: TCFD

UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • Goal 12

WGSN’s ambition is to help clients shift to a circular design system, embedding sustainability at every stage of a product’s lifecycle.

Reporting Period: 2022

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:3,166.47 tCO2e (2022)
Scope 1 Emissions:0 tCO2e (2022)
Scope 2 Emissions:758.11 tCO2e (2022)
Scope 3 Emissions:2,408.36 tCO2e (2022)
Total Energy Consumption:2,322,710 kWh (2022)
Carbon Intensity:1.44 tCO2e/£m revenue (2022)

ESG Focus Areas

  • Climate Change
  • Social Impact
  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • Governance

Environmental Achievements

  • Cannes Lions Festival adopted measures to improve sustainability, including measuring carbon emissions for the first time.
  • Improved and developed reporting processes across waste management, office emissions and sustainability-focused content.
  • Over 75% of initial Climate Change KPIs achieved in 2022.

Social Achievements

  • The Prince’s Trust Million Makers competition raised over £480,000, taking the total raised over 10 years to over £2.5 million.
  • Cannes Lions donated profits from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Lion to charities.
  • Supported Goals for Girls through a three-year sponsorship agreement.
  • Donated £100,000 to support Ukrainian refugees.

Governance Achievements

  • Completed the Taskforce for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) for the first time in 2021.
  • Established a Sustainability Forum for brands with material climate change risks or opportunities.
  • Relaunched the Ascential Code of Conduct in January 2023.

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Medium-term Goals:
  • Develop plans to get to operational net zero by 2030.
  • 100% of third-party data centers use renewable energy by 2025.
  • Set minimum % Ascential events must obtain against the Ascential sustainable events indicators by the end of 2024.
Short-term Goals:
  • Develop a costed Carbon Transition Plan in 2023.
  • Audit all offices by the end of 2023 to assess waste disposal and recycling capabilities.
  • Set targets for recycling and reducing waste to landfill by the end of 2023.

Environmental Challenges

  • Meeting reporting requirements around carbon emissions.
  • Avoidable waste from events becoming societally unacceptable.
  • Societal shift away from consumerism.
  • Business disruption due to global factors or local incidents.
  • Customers perceiving emissions associated with event attendance as a barrier.
  • Assessing and measuring Scope 3 emissions.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Employing an external consultant for carbon emissions reporting.
  • Improving sustainability at Cannes Lions (reducing waste, measuring delegate travel).
  • Monitoring demand for climate-related products and exploring opportunities to align services with the value of purchased goods.
  • Maintaining business continuity planning.
  • Demonstrating credentials as an industry leader in sustainable events and leveraging hybrid event offerings.
  • Developing a costed net-zero transition plan in 2023 to understand material Scope 3 emissions and set reduction targets.

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement
  • Updated Supplier Code of Conduct to include climate change risk.

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks
  • Extreme weather events
Transition Risks
  • Changing market needs
  • Climate-related regulatory increases
  • Changes in consumer behaviour
Opportunities
  • Developing climate-related products and capabilities

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: TCFD, SECR

UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • SDG 13 (Climate Action)

Initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals Lion and partnerships with the UN.

Reporting Period: 2023

Environmental Metrics

Total Carbon Emissions:47,595 tonnes of CO2e (2023)
Scope 1 Emissions:129 tonnes of CO2e (2023)
Scope 2 Emissions:900 tonnes of CO2e (2023)
Scope 3 Emissions:46,566 tonnes of CO2e (2023)
Renewable Energy Share:9% (2023)
Total Energy Consumption:2,482,271 kWh (2023)
Carbon Intensity:1.8 tCO2e/£million (2023)

ESG Focus Areas

  • Environment
  • Social
  • Governance

Environmental Achievements

  • Increased carbon measurement to include spend-based scope 3 emissions reporting.
  • Measured the carbon and waste footprints of Cannes Lions, Money20/20 Amsterdam, and Money20/20 Las Vegas.
  • Developed Ascential Sustainable Events Standards.

Social Achievements

  • Maintained partnership with The Prince’s Trust, raising over £378,000.
  • Continued support for The Media Trust.
  • Increased representation of women by 12% and minority race/ethnicity by 19% across all brands’ content.

Governance Achievements

  • Established a new governance structure for ESG strategy.
  • Completed an updated Materiality Assessment.
  • Appointed Philip Thomas as ESG Board Sponsor and Kent Dreadon as ESG Executive Sponsor.

Climate Goals & Targets

Long-term Goals:
  • Achieve net-zero emissions (target year not specified).
Medium-term Goals:
  • Complete Climate Transition Plan (2025).
  • Increase renewable energy use to 80%.
Short-term Goals:
  • Launch Ascential Events Sustainable Standards (2024).
  • Set science-based targets for scope 1 & 2 emissions (2025).
  • Increase activity-based scope 3 data collection to 80%.

Environmental Challenges

  • Avoidable waste from events becoming unacceptable for customers.
  • Inability to measure and reduce carbon emissions in line with requirements.
  • Supply chain not equipped to manage climate-related risks.
  • Inability to adapt to changing market needs regarding customer sustainability performance.
  • Customers perceiving emissions associated with event attendance as a barrier.
  • Business disruption due to global or local incidents.
  • Insufficient data for setting ambitious net-zero targets.
Mitigation Strategies
  • Measured waste at major events to set reduction targets; developed Ascential Sustainable Events Standard.
  • Effectively resourced internal Sustainability Team; partnership with technology platform and expert consultancy.
  • Supplier Code of Conduct requiring adherence to environmental laws and regulations; monitoring suppliers in high-risk regions.
  • Market scanning to inform strategy; development of new sustainability-focused products and services.
  • Demonstrating credentials as a sustainable event leader; leveraging hybrid event offerings; reducing or offsetting emissions.
  • Maintaining business continuity planning; considering climate change risk in venue contracts; enabling remote work.
  • Increasing the number of scope 3 emissions categories measured on an activity basis.

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement
  • Supplier Code of Conduct
  • Green Guide for partners and suppliers

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks
  • Business disruption from extreme weather events
Transition Risks
  • Waste transition
  • Carbon emissions measurement and reduction
  • Supply chain transition
  • Changing business model/innovation
  • Event attendance
Opportunities
  • Ascential Sustainable Events Standard cost savings and innovation; blueprint for industry best practice.
  • New products and services addressing customer sustainability requirements.

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: TCFD, SECR

Sustainable Products & Innovation

  • WARC Sustainability Hub
  • Lions Sustainable Development Goal Category