From the outset, the Group’s new environmental policy, “Consume less & better”, was developed around the EU 2030 Climate and Energy strategy. In 2019, regarding the urgency in climate-related matters, the Group reviewed its goals.
Publicis Groupe has voluntarily chosen to follow Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) recommendations, and has committed to using a Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) process to set its new targets for 2030. The environmental policy continues to be structured around the following areas, in order to achieve and maintain carbon neutrality as soon as possible:
1. reducing employee travel (particularly air travel) and its impact through the introduction of teleconference and conference call systems, etc., encouraging lower-emission modes of transport (such as public transport, “Green cabs”, electric, hybrid or smaller cars, etc.) or alternative mobility solutions (bicycles);
2. reducing energy consumption and improving energy efficiency (by seeking to limit the impact relating to electricity, heating and air conditioning);
3. reducing consumption of natural resources and raw materials (mainly paper, water, plastics). At the beginning of 2020, a global plan was launched to eliminate single-use plastics (Zero Single Use Plastic) from all agencies in order to rapidly comply with the ambitious objectives of the plan voted by the European Parliament.
4. systematically installing recycling and organized (non-hazardous) waste management systems. The summary table at the end of this section shows the changes under way. Publicis Groupe is a signatory of the French Climate Business Pledge, restating the commitment of French business to the Paris Agreement targets, energy transition and the fight against climate change within the context of the 1.5° scenario.
5. achieve carbon neutrality for the entire Group as soon as possible and by 2030.
Focus on real estate
Environmental issues are taken into consideration by the Group’s Real Estate Department right from the early stages of a project, whether in the course of refurbishment work for the agencies or when looking for new premises. The goal is to favor spaces that meet the energy and environmental criteria. Every year, examples of good practice are exchanged by Real Estate managers in different countries so as to anticipate requirements for the future premises:
Over the last two years, the Group reduced the area occupied by 20%, with spectacular mergers like in New York where 10 addresses fell to three, in London where 11 address fell to five, or the bringing together of all Boston entities into a single fully refurbished building. Epsilon teams were incorporated in the second half of 2019 and this has already resulted in significant synergies. Sixteen agencies are ISO 14001 certified.
Protection of biodiversity
This issue is dealt with on a local level, according to the immediate environment of each agency and its ability to have a real influence. In Costa Rica, Re:Sources is a model of the volunteer approach with an action plan involving employees in a carbon offsetting program designed to promote local biodiversity by preserving tropical flora and fauna in protected forests. In France, the Group has installed several beehives on the roofs of four of its buildings in Paris, including the Champs-Élysées, Bastille, Gambetta and Saint Denis, and gives employees training in how to care for them. In addition to supporting the French bee-keeping sector, a partnership has been entered into with the Apiflordev association which fights against poverty in Africa. Honey from Paris beehives is now financing the installation of beehives in Senegal, which are crucial for biodiversity as well as from a social perspective. In China, agencies have come together in a program to plant trees in the fight against local deforestation. Pro bono campaigns and volunteering focused on protecting nature and the planet were carried out for associations that protect the environment and natural resources (namely flora and fauna) in many countries.
The main objective is to reduce all the impacts of activities and output. Following the example of Publicis Conseil in France, a number of agencies have now put in place processes designed to assess eco-friendly design options during the early stages of a project. If these parameters are duly considered, campaigns or digital solutions that consume less energy or raw materials, or that involve less travel or waste, can be achieved. These rules make it easier to anticipate impacts and find alternative solutions. Consolidated project data is still largely irrelevant. In fact, because the Group has access to an ad hoc calculation tool, set up and monitored by Bureau Veritas, analysis is most relevant on a project by project basis, so as to assess the drop in negative impacts and the increase in positive impacts as a result of the solutions finally adopted by agencies and clients.
The tool is now operational. It makes it possible to assess options, with the largest interested clients, to significantly reduce impacts and it has guided offsetting operations for irreducible impacts. This tool will be trialed in several countries in 2020.
