The State of Sustainable Advertising: December 2023

This end-of-year report offers an updated view into where emissions in the digital advertising supply chain exist and how the industry’s carbon footprint continues to evolve. It includes emissions data for an expanded list of countries to provide a comprehensive picture of how carbon output differs across the globe.

The report also provides an analysis of the industry’s current decarbonization trajectory and insights into the potential impact if swift and aggressive action is taken to eliminate climate risk inventory. The results highlight a massive opportunity in the year ahead.

Finally, a special feature on bot traffic explores how emissions data can be used to expose the climate impact of waste that exists in the ad ecosystem.

Key takeaways

• For half the countries analyzed, gCO2PM decreased on average 9.3% over six months
• Excluding climate risk inventory would decrease gCO2PM by more than 25% in every country
• Aggressively decreasing emissions from the ad selection process would have a meaningful impact on carbon reduction efforts