Responsible business

For the third year we have included ‘Task force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ (TCFD) aligned disclosures in our Annual Report. More information on our activities relating to Climate Change, carbon emissions and waste is included in the statement on pages 61-67 of our Annual Report.

Our climate change targets and an update on our progress to date can be found on pages 66-67 of our Annual Report. In 2023 we continued to focus on improving the methodology for measuring emissions, as well as increasing the scope and accuracy of emissions data that we are collecting. We consider this to be fundamental to our ability to develop a meaningful net-zero target, in line with UK Government regulations, as part of our Climate Transition Plan.

WARC partners with LIONS and the UK’s Advertising Association to create the WARC Sustainability Hub. The Sustainability Hub helps marketers understand and solve the challenges around sustainability, including net zero. It features resources from Ad Net Zero, a UK industry-wide initiative led by the Advertising Association, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers, with the goal of reducing the marketing industry’s carbon impact.

We have now developed the Ascential Events Sustainability Standards. The standards are a roadmap for significantly reducing the carbon emissions and waste generated at our events year-on-year. You can read more about the actions we took in 2023 to make our events the most sustainable yet on pages 59-60 of our Annual Report.

In 2020 we launched a company-wide Diversity and Inclusion vision.

Diversity is core to Ascential. Our value as an employer and to our customers is greater when we draw on the full range of our collective perspectives and experiences.

We continue to be committed to attracting, retaining, developing and engaging a diverse workforce, and we will work constantly to ensure that everyone at Ascential feels comfortable to be themselves. This is the right thing to do to ensure a sustainable future for our organisation, and to make a positive impact for our people, customers, and society.

Our work in this area is supported by three headline commitments:

• To employees: We will co-create an inclusive culture with equitable systems throughout our workforce, so that people are comfortable in bringing their authentic selves to Ascential, to thrive, and progress their career.
• To customers: We will deliver the ideas, perspectives and cultural richness that our customers – and their customers – need to future-proof their products and services.
• To society: We will play our part in imagining and developing a brighter, more equal society, starting with our own company and the industries we work in. We will report openly and regularly on our progress to enable others to learn from us and hold us to account.

• Philip Thomas is the Executive Director with responsibility to the Board for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters, while Nancy Parks, Chief People Officer, is our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) sponsor at Executive level.
• We now have several growing Employee Resource Networks across Ascential: Able to Thrive, Ascential Pride, Black in Business and Empower: Ascential Women’s Network. Each network has been formalised with their own governance structure and Executive Sponsor.
• In August 2020, we ran our first Diversity Data Survey which was completed by 83% of our colleagues. In January 2021, we published the results of that survey alongside our new Diversity and Inclusion vision and commitments in our first Diversity and Inclusion Report, which you can read here.
• We have subsequently published two annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Reports which set out the priorities and actions for the year as we work towards our 2030 commitments. You can read the 2022 report here and the 2023 report here. 
• We voluntarily publish our Gender Pay Gap report, sharing data from the past two years and an action plan of how we're closing the gap. You can read the 2023 report here, and the 2022 report here.
• In 2023, we maintained a leading position in the FTSE Women Leaders Review, addressing gender equality on Boards. We also continued to report against the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index KPIs, which can be viewed here.

Our brands have tailored their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) support to what’s right for their teams and their customers, enabling local activity that makes a tangible difference. These activities have been tailored to be culturally- and industry-specific. They include the following:

• Money20/20’s ‘Do Better’ pledge to diversify their industry. Find out more here.
• At the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity in June 2023, DEI remained a core content pillar, ensuring it was a key theme running throughout the event. You can read more about inclusivity at the festival here. 
• WARC continues to deliver the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion hub which you can view here. 
• Since our first Inclusive Representation Content Audit in 2021, our Content and Marketing teams have implemented action plans to ensure their content represents the diversity of the communities we serve. Through the audits we assess the perceived gender and race and ethnicity of all quoted individuals, contributors and imagery used. You can read more on page 72 of our Annual Report.

In July 2024, we embarked on a new charity partnership with Media Trust. Media Trust is dedicated to bridging the gap between the media and creative industry and underrepresented communities. They provide essential communications and digital skills training to charities and local communities, and mentoring to young people aspiring to join the media and creative industries.

Our Chief Executive, Phil Thomas, proudly serves as a Media Trust Trustee, having been Chair of Media Trust from 2021-2024, and a Board member from 2019-2021. Through this new partnership, we are excited to continue making a positive impact on society, empowering individuals with the skills and opportunities they need to thrive.

From 2013-2024, our official charity partner was The Prince’s Trust. The Prince’s Trust helps young people from challenging circumstances to get into education, training and jobs. Our teams raised over £2 million over the course of the partnership, through the Million Makers Fundraising challenge. In 2023, Ascential won The Prince's Trust's Employee Fundraiser of the Year award, a testament to the dedication and hard work of our people.

Cannes Lions has continued to donate all profits from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Lion to a range of charities or Not-for-Profit organisations who had won an SDG Lion. The Sustainable Development Goals Lion celebrates creative problem solving, solutions or other initiatives that harness creativity and seek to positively impact the world. Entrants have to demonstrate how they have advanced or contributed to the SDG 2030 goals. In 2023, the SDG Lion raised over €267,000, in addition to the €73,000 also raised by the Glass Lion which goes to charities supporting gender equality. The total raised by both Lion awards since 2015 is now over €2 million.

Our brands also develop charitable partnerships at a local level that align with their brand values and colleague interests. This sees a wide range of organisations being supported in several ways, from charitable donations, to volunteering and skills sharing.

There is no forced, involuntary or debt bonded labour in any form including slavery or trafficking of persons. There are no workers under the age of 15, or where it is higher, the mandatory school leaving age in the local country. The use of legitimate workplace apprenticeship programmes, which comply with all laws and regulations, is supported.

Workers, without distinction, have the right to associate freely, join or not join labour unions, seek representation and join workers’ councils as well as the right of collective bargaining in accordance with local laws.

There is equality of opportunity and treatment regardless of physical attributes or condition (including pregnancy), gender, religion (or absence of such beliefs), political opinion, nationality, sexual orientation, age or ethnic background. Equal pay for work of equal value is supported. Discrimination or intimidation towards and between employees is opposed, including all forms or threats of physical and psychological abuse.

There is no tolerance of any form of corruption, bribery, fraud, tax evasion, extortion or embezzlement and business is conducted in a manner that avoids conflicts of interest.

Fair business, advertising and competition is supported.

There is respect for and protection of intellectual property rights, data and confidential information to safeguard them against and prohibit loss and unauthorised use, disclosure, alteration or access. Our intellectual property and confidential information are handled and data processed on our behalf only for the purposes for which it was made available, received or collected in accordance with the reasonable directions provided by us.

Any disruptions of business are prepared for (including but not limited to natural disasters, terrorism or cyber attacks). Risks are frequently assessed and appropriate controls put in place and regularly tested.

All required quality, health, safety and environment related permits, licences and registrations are obtained, maintained and kept up-to-date and their operational and reporting requirements are followed. Proper provision is made for the health, safety and welfare of employees, visitors, contractors, the community and the environment. Health, safety and environmental risks are regularly assessed and appropriate controls are put in place bearing in mind the prevailing knowledge of the industry and of any specific hazards.

We require adherence to all applicable environmental laws and regulations, to appropriately mitigate climate change risk. We assess environmental impact in our supply chain with respect to any or all of the following: carbon emissions, energy consumption, travel, water consumption, single use plastics, paper usage and operational waste.  Our expectation is that our suppliers and supply chain cooperate and contribute to reducing the environmental impact of their products and services.