Universal Registration Document 2021

Chapter 4. Corporate social responsibility – Non-financial performance

4.3.1.1 Publicis Groupe’s commitments to climate

Publicis Groupe, as a member of the United Nations Global Compact and a company committed to SBTI, is a signatory of the Business Ambition for 1.5° in support of the efforts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) calling on companies to accelerate the transition to a decarbonized economy and world, and in favor of a fairer society

Publicis Groupe has voluntarily chosen to follow the recommendations of the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure) and its environmental policy is structured according to the recommended principles in order to allow a clearer understanding of the objectives and means implemented. Additional information can be found on the Groupe’s website, in the CSR section, or in public responses to external questionnaires such as the one issued by the CDP Climate Change.

Publicis Groupe also participates in other inter-company initiatives, as a member of economic organizations such as in France through the MEDEF and the French Business Climate Pledge, in which several French subsidiaries also participate. This plea reaffirms the determination of French companies in favor of the objectives of the Paris Agreement, the energy transition and the fight against global warming in a scenario of 1.5°C.

The sectoral professional organizations to which the Groupe and its agencies belong, particularly in Europe, have made strong commitments to reduce the impact of communication and advertising in all their forms. The Groupe is a voluntary player in this area in order to quickly take all the measures necessary for the essential collective effort. In France, AACC with UDECAM, IAB France and ARPP, alongside advertisers, have begun to draw up a trajectory, with best practices and tools to be deployed in order to achieve carbon neutrality. In the United Kingdom, spearheaded by the Advertising Association, which brings together the industry, from advertisers to agencies and media to platforms, has created AdGreen, a sectoral initiative with the objective to achieve Zero Waste – Zero Carbon in 2030.

4.3.1.2 Risks associated with climate issues

As indicated in the Duty of Care Plan (see Section 4.2.4), more in-depth work began in 2021, with the help of an external firm, to better determine the risks of climate change, by alalyzing several scenarios. An ad hoc working group was created, managed by the Groupe’s CSR Department with the assistance of the Risk Management, IT and GSO (infrastructure and information systems security), Legal and operational departments and teams. The work initially consists of mapping risks and opportunities with regard to various scenarios, aligned with those of the IPCC, including in particular.

  • a low-carbon transition scenario compatible with global warming limited to 1.5°C by 2100 (RCP 2.6);
  • a trend scenario leading to global warming of more than 4°C by 2100 (RCP 8.5);

The work therefore aims to identify and prioritize the various risks and opportunities associated with these scenarios based on the typology established by the TCFD, which distinguishes between:

  1. the physical risks associated with the impacts of climate change, due to the geographical location of the offices, employees and data centers, which may impact employees and their working environment, alter the continuity of service for clients and the normal operation of the Company ;
  2. the transition risks arising from changes in the market, regulations or technology that limit global warming to 1.5°C. These may include investments in new technologies, in particular those that reduce electricity consumption (some of which are still unknown); or in terms of regulatory changes, such as the end of certain product categories for the Groupe’s clients, the ban on communicating on certain products or the possible occurrence of additional taxes (carbon tax or other).

This work aims to develop an action plan to strengthen the anticipation, monitoring and management of the risks identified.

4.3.1.3 Opportunities for the fight against global warming

In addition to proprietary tools such as A.L.I.C.E. (see Section 4.2.2.3), climate issues are also an opportunity for innovation in terms of new services to be offered to clients. Several activities have begun this shift in recent years and this is reflected in various initiatives, including the following examples:

  • in France, since 2019, the #NIBI program (No Impact for Big Impact) is a global approach with the training of employees as a prerequisite, starting from the client brief until the final implementation of communication actions, all measured with A.L.I.C.E., by associating suppliers and partners in order to achieve the expected objectives together but with the lowest possible environmental impact. #NIBI invites each business to rethink its processes, invent new, more sober approaches and think outside the box ;