The development of adaptation trajectories help to define concrete actions in the short, medium and long term to strengthen the resilience of our infrastructures (for example, by improving the energy efficiency of our data centers), diversifying our supply chains, and supporting our clients in their own ecological transition.
Measures are in place such as:
- promoting more sustainable working practices to reduce our emissions
- the use of renewable energy to power our offices, with an objective of 100% by 2030;
- training to raise our teams’ awareness of climate issues.
Our resilience plan is part of a continuous improvement process based on changes in the climate context and experiential feedback.
3. Risk mitigation measures
3.1 Mitigation measures for physical risks:
- the Talent and HR teams in the countries have extended the spectrum of systems enabling employees to be supported in terms of physical and mental health prevention throughout the year, with the possibility of strengthening these systems, as was the case with the pandemic. With the internal tool LionAlert, the Groupe can contact employees in case of extreme emergency and ensure they are safe. LionAlert is activated locally according to events (earthquake, cyclone, flood, major fire, but also acts of terrorism, political tensions, etc.) Employees regularly update their contact information;
- the IT Department implemented the necessary measures to ensure continuity of service from one region of the world to another; tests and backup plans are carried out regularly. The Re:Sources IT teams are able to equip all employees worldwide for an extended remote working configuration with the appropriate equipment for IT, connectivity and office automation (this was already the case for years in regions of the world subject to major climate hazards, and this has covered 100% of the Groupe since the pandemic);
- in terms of energy, the switch to 100% renewable energy, expected before 2030 in the Group, will reduce the impact of non-renewable energy for electricity needs;
- ISO 14001 certification provides a method that helps anticipation strategies, especially for entities that may be the most exposed.
Outlook on physical risks: these risks will increase inexorably over the coming years, but with a low impact on the operational functioning of the Company in view of the systems and modus operandi practiced.
Internal carbon price or ICF (Internal Carbon Fee). In 2023, the Management Board approved the principle of an internal carbon price of euro 50 per TeqCO2. [E1-8-63 (a) & (b)] This price was built by integrating three parameters:
- the price of voluntary carbon credits for REDD+ and sequestration-type projects;
- a contribution to the financing of internal actions to facilitate the ecological transition (R&D, new tools or systems);
- support for innovation in subsidiaries’ products and services to help the Groupe’s clients in their own transition. [E1-8-63 (c)]
This ICF is currently available for information purposes. It helps measure the change in impacts and their costs since the reference year used for the carbon trajectory calculations (in particular the targets validated by SBTi with 2019 as the reference year). This ICF covers Scopes 1 + 2 + 3 carbon emissions such as travel, including air transportation and direct purchases. Even though these initial estimates result in a fairly low ICF, it is expected from this exercise that subsidiaries will better assess the financial impacts of their own carbon emissions, which should help accelerate the implementation of all solutions to reduce these impacts. [E1-3-29 (c), E1-8-63 (b), E1-8-AR 65]
3.2 Mitigation measures for transition risks:
- from a business line point of view, Publicis Groupe participates in sectoral work like Ad Net Zero enabling our various activities to anticipate regulatory changes and be a source of proposals to improve professional practices. The implementation of a proprietary carbon calculator, A.L.I.C.E., illustrates the desire to innovate;
- from a regulatory point of view, under the supervision of the Legal Department, various teams monitor international and national regulations in order to anticipate changes concerning us or our clients, to develop our standards, and to call upon external experts where applicable;
- with regard to possible carbon taxes, the objective is to reduce all sources of carbon emissions without exception, and to work on long-term projects. [ESRS 2 SBM-3-48 (b)]
