WPP honoured in Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards
3 May 2022
Industry-leading Net Zero commitment recognised among the top ideas that have potential to effect “true systems change” in General Excellence category
Today, following the company’s industry-leading Net Zero commitment announced in April 2021, WPP has been honoured in the General Excellence category of Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards.
Now in its sixth year, the 2022 awards feature entries from around the world and honour clean technology, innovative corporate initiatives, brave new designs for cities and buildings, and other creative works that are supporting the growth of positive social innovation, tackling social inequality, climate change, and public health crises. The General Excellence category highlights ideas that have the potential to effect true systems change or solve challenging problems. A panel of eminent Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 2,997 entries.
WPP has been actively reducing the carbon emissions produced by its operations since 2006. As the world’s largest buyer of advertising space ($50+ billion-worth a year), and the world’s largest producer of advertising content, WPP is the only marketing communications company to have taken on the challenge of developing the technology and standards to identify and then dramatically reduce emissions from advertising globally. By including every ad that WPP produces within its commitment and partnering with others through initiatives including Ad Net Zero, WPP believes this project will support the development of an industry standard, transforming the media advertising ecosystem and helping reduce emissions as an entire industry at scale, worldwide.
The net zero commitment follows other industry-leading sustainability initiatives from WPP. In 2021 WPP purchased 74% of its electricity from renewable sources, including 100% of electricity bought in the United States, the UK, Canada and most European markets. In 2019, WPP was the first among its peers to commit to phasing out single-use plastics within its campuses.
Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: “The advertising industry has a responsibility to help accelerate the climate transition. In addition to identifying and eliminating the carbon emissions from the production and placement of advertising content, we can harness the power of marketing communications to shift opinion and change behavior at the scale and pace needed for a more sustainable future. We are proud to see WPP Net Zero included alongside so many innovative initiatives in Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards.”
David Lidsky, Interim Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company, said: “We are consistently inspired by the novelty and creativity that people are applying to solve some of our society’s most pressing problems, from shelter to the climate crisis. Fast Company relishes its role in amplifying important, innovative work to address big challenges. Our journalists have identified some of the most ingenious initiatives to launch since the start of 2021, which we hope will both have a meaningful impact and lead others to join in being part of the solution.”
Fast Company’s Summer 2022 issue (on newsstands May 10, 2022) will showcase some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and companies tackling global challenges. The issues highlight, among others, probiotics for coral reefs, easy-to-assemble kit homes for refugees or disaster survivors, a 3D printed vaccine patch, an electric truck, a system to heat homes from the waste heat of a name-brand factory, and prosecutor-initiated resentencing for overly long prison sentences.
Further information
Martina Suess, WPP
+1-917-456-5049
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About WPP
WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information, visit www.wpp.com.
About the World Changing Ideas Awards
World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programmes and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honourable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.