Win the pitch that asks about your agency's sustainability

Why are brand clients asking agencies about ESG?

Because your work sits in their supply chain. Large brands increasingly report the emissions of the businesses they buy from, known as Scope 3, and many have public sustainability commitments they need suppliers to support. That is why the question now shows up in pitch briefs, agency roster reviews and supplier onboarding portals.

There is a reputational angle too. Agencies write a lot of sustainability messaging for clients, and clients notice when an agency cannot answer the same questions about itself. A short, honest report with real numbers avoids that awkward moment and keeps you clear of greenwashing.

What makes up a creative agency’s carbon footprint?

For most studios, it comes down to a few sources:

• Electricity in your studio, or your share of a co-working space, estimated from desks and days used if you have no bills
• Gas heating, if you run your own premises
• Flights for shoots, events and client meetings, with radiative forcing included
• Rail for UK and near-Europe travel
• Waste and water, estimated from bins and headcount where you lack data

Travel is often the biggest single item once you measure it. A long-haul economy return flight, London to New York for example, comes to roughly 1.3 tonnes of CO2e per passenger using the 2025 UK government factors with radiative forcing. Send a crew of four on a couple of overseas shoots a year and travel can easily outweigh your studio’s energy use. That is also why it is the most useful place to look for reductions: fewer people travelling, local crews where it makes sense, and rail instead of short-haul flights for UK and near-Europe jobs.

Taxis and hotel stays are counted as business travel, and commuting and homeworking are estimated from how your team works. Kit, freelancers and other production services can be added through the optional spend-based estimate, which is rough and labelled as such. The methodology appendix lists exactly what is and is not counted. If a client needs supplier-specific production emissions, you can add them separately.

The people side clients care about

Agencies are people businesses, and clients often read the social section first. Your report records how you approach pay (including the Real Living Wage), benefits, training, diversity monitoring, health and safety, volunteering and charitable work. Many studios find they do more here than they had written down, from mentoring juniors to pro bono work for local charities.

The governance section covers your code of conduct, risk management, data protection under UK GDPR and who leads on ESG. It also records whether you have an environmental policy, and your action plan flags any policies worth adding before the next supplier portal asks.

Getting it done between deadlines

Have your headcount, desk or studio details, staff benefits and a rough count of last year’s flights and train trips to hand. Answers save as you go, so you can stop for a client call and pick it up later. Your first report is free. If you are thinking about B Corp, see getting B Corp ready as a small business. Otherwise, start your report and have it ready for the next brief.