HAVAS GROUP COMMITS TO CLIMATE ACTION
LAUNCH OF INITIATIVE FOR CARBON NEUTRAL PRODUCTIONS
HAVAS GROUP COMMITS TO CLIMATE ACTION
Le Groupe Havas, à travers ses agences Havas Paris, Havas Events et BETC, annonce le lancement de Solidarité Climat, une initiative qui vise à compenser l’empreinte carbone de l’ensemble des productions (audiovisuelles, print, digitales et événementielles). Ce dispositif, annoncé à l’occasion du Global Climate Action Summit, qui se tient actuellement à San Francisco, a pour but de financer des projets solidaires en faveur du climat. [ ... ]
Through its agencies Havas Paris, Havas Events and BETC, Havas Group announces the launch of the Climate Solidarity Initiative, a scheme for offsetting the carbon footprint created by producing campaigns (TV & radio, print, digital and events) for clients. The scheme, launched as part of the Global Climate Action Summit currently taking place in San Francisco, aims to fund solidarity-based projects addressing climate issues.
The introduction of this concrete measure bears eloquent witness to the Group’s engagement with the Common Ground initiative and combating climate change, one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Climate Solidarity Initiative is both groundbreaking and exclusive. Based on a methodology defined by specialist carbon strategy consultants Carbone 4, it establishes a correlation between the total cost of a production and its carbon footprint. This ratio is then used to calculate a financial contribution to be paid by advertisers, based on a percentage of the technical expenses incurred. The contribution will figure as a distinct item in the overall quote for the service, and will represent around 0.2% of the total. In return, clients will receive a carbon offset certificate to incorporate into their own carbon balance.
The funds collected will be invested in VCS (Verified Carbon Standard) accredited projects aimed at reducing or removing greenhouse gas emissions and preserving ecosystems (reforestation, forest conservation, agroforestry) in Peru (St Martin Ecosphere) and in France, managed by Pur Projet. In just over a year, a pilot phase run by French agency BETC has already collected more than €60 thousand in funds.
"Climate change is a challenge for society, for our clients, and also for the advertising industry,” explains Yannick Bolloré, Havas Group CEO. "We are proud to announce real measures, in partnership with our clients, to take concrete action to fight climate change. This pioneering initiative will gradually be adopted across the entire Havas Group worldwide. "
From San Francisco, Nathalie Pons, Partner and Head of CSR at Havas Paris, explains: "Companies have come to realize that they must play an active role in society in response to consumers' and citizens’ expectations. Havas Group is living up to its responsibilities by developing an initiative that goes right to the heart of its business. We are also delighted to partner with the Net Zéro Initiative, a leading network of French companies (ENGIE, EDF, L'Oréal, RATP, BPCE) working towards an ambitious definition of carbon neutrality in France".
About Havas Group :
Havas is one of the world’s largest global communications groups. Founded in 1835 in Paris, the Group employs 20,000 people in over 100 countries. Since the end of 2017, Havas Group is fully integrated into Vivendi. Havas Group is committed to being the world’s best company at creating meaningful connections between people and brands through creativity, media and innovation. Based on a client-centric model across media and creative, the Havas Group is the most integrated company in its sector. We operate with three business units (creative, media and healthcare & wellness) within our 52 Havas Villages all over the world where teams share the same premises ensuring agility and a seamless experience for clients.
About PUR Projet :
Founded in 2008, PUR Projet is a social enterprise acting to regenerate the ecosystems we depend on, to strengthen companies’ value chains and to improve the livelihoods of local communities. PUR Projet operates positive impact environmental and social projects in multiple agricultural, animal and plant supply chains in more than 40 countries around the world. PUR Project sees forest carbon projects as a way to foster the socio-economic development of communities, while improving and preserving their environment. Agroforestry preserves soils, restores degraded ecosystems and improves agricultural production conditions. Gradually, agroforestry systems, inspired by natural ecosystems, enrich themselves, become more resilient, more autonomous. Agroforestry is particularly suitable for small farms.
About Carbone 4
Created in 2007 by energy and climate experts Jean-Marc Jancovici and Alain Grandjean, Carbone 4 is the leading consulting firm specialized in low carbon strategy and adaptation to climate change.The firm’s name refers to Factor 4, the name given to France’s objective of cutting GHG emissions by 75% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.From the outset Carbone 4 has been dedicated to: increasing understanding of the determining factors in the environmental transition, i.e. depletion of fossil fuel and non-renewable resources, climate change, deteriorating ecosystem services; spreading awareness of these issues throughout all of society, and push it up the decision ladder to the highest levels in both the public and private sectors of the economy and enrolingl economic actors in change, endowing them with diagnostic and operational tools that will enable them to build their development and adaptation strategy.
About Net Zero Initiative
Net Zero Initiative is a space for innovation and actions for a challenging, credible and ethical carbon neutrality. Created by the French consulting firm Carbone 4, it gathers companies of various sizes and sectors willing to pursue consistent climate goals related to neutrality. Its first objective is to imagine the best possible framework and methodology for defining and encouraging corporate carbon neutrality, along with corporate partners and an independent scientific council. This framework is presented in the context of the upcoming COP 24 2018 and after the lauch of the initiative at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco (Septembre 12-14,2018), a non gouvermental summit addressing climate issues.
Yaël Dorfner – Havas Paris
+33 6 09 66 27 55
yael.dorfner@havas.com
@yaeldorf
Lorella Gessa
Chief Communications Officer, Havas Group
+33 (0)1 58 47 90 36
lorella.gessa@havas.com
@Lorella_Gessa