Written by Matthew Morgan

Chief Executive

Project: stop fuelling global warming.

It’s the one aim we all share, but it’s no picnic. Even getting accurate data is challenging.

At Agency Inc we’ve recently managed to assess every cost of the business for its carbon impact – and make it to carbon neutral. Still, our journey is just beginning. There’s plenty left to do, as you’ll see in our data.

By being honest about our own journey, we hope we can inspire a few brands to get transparent about their indirect emissions as well as their carbon avoidance. That means illustrating our impact in terms of fossil fuel emissions, even when we’re not directly involved in these activities.

It might not look perfect, but we think our pledges should always be put in the context of our progress – and our past. That’s how we can become a positive force: for the planet, and for people far beyond our home in London.

 

What counts as carbon avoidance?

This is not about offsets. Although we’ve helped plant over 15,000 trees and counting, you won’t see those trees in our avoidance figures. That’s about restoring nature, for the long term.

So, what counts as carbon avoidance rather than a traditional offset? Basically, an avoidance project must actively prevent carbon from being emitted, or reduce the amount emitted. That’s why avoidance activities are more expensive to fund than offsets.

So what do we mean by avoidance? For each month of 2023, we’ve given a little taste of just some of the avoidance activity we’ve funded to balance our emissions.

 

Beyond neutral

Not long ago, most businesses couldn’t even estimate their emissions. Thanks to Ecologi and its partnership with Small World Consulting and carbon accounting expert Prof. Mike Berners-Lee, it’s now much easier to get an accurate picture.

You can see more about how Ecologi approaches avoidance in this article. While they help companies invest in high-quality removal and avoidance projects, they push hard first and foremost for lower emissions.

So, we won’t be resting easy. We’ve cut our emissions over the last two years – and we want to continue doing just that, year on year.

Let’s keep it real simple

If you’re thinking about sustainability, so are we. Let’s chat about how to keep things authentic – and simple – in your campaigns.

Agency Inc
We make the complicated simple