Blog

Case studies

blog_marketing_advertising_casestudy_header

Blog_Marketing_Advertising_CaseStudy_Header

In 2020, Sir David Attenborough said that “saving the planet is now a communications challenge”. If the marketing and advertising industry can’t rise to the challenge, then who can?

Use these handy quick links to jump straight to a specific story&#8230;
<ul>
<li>Helping businesses build low carbon websites: <a href="#complex">Complex Creative</a></li>
<li>Selecting clients who walk the walk: <a href="#remarkably">Remarkably</a></li>
<li>Science-based targets for carbon reduction: <a href="#msq">MSQ</a></li>
<li>Going all-in for sustainability: <a href="#climbing">Climbing Trees</a></li>
<li>Putting people and the planet first: <a href="#propellernet">Propellernet</a></li>
<li>Going beyond being sustainable &#8211; to being regenerative: <a href="#avery">Avery &amp; Brown</a></li>
</ul>

Sustainability can help marketing agencies fulfil their environmental responsibilities while creating better client engagement, employee satisfaction, and commercial performance. It’s no longer a niche consideration. It’s a mainstream issue that is forcing the marketing &amp; advertising industry to reckon with its environmental impact.

blog_marketing_advertising_casestudy_banner_01

Blog_Marketing_Advertising_CaseStudy_Banner_01

Regulators are cracking down on greenwashing. The European Parliament voted to support new rules to improve product durability by combating greenwashing and misleading claims on consumer labels, such as ‘CO2 neutral’ or ‘carbon neutral’. While in the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority is pursuing stricter enforcement on adverts claiming carbon neutrality through offsetting. 
<a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/climate-commitments-survey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Our recent survey</a> of 1,000 SME business owners and decision makers carried out with the British Business Bank and One Poll revealed that 76% of SMEs believe that having an environmental strategy is good for business. A huge 98% of SMEs who have taken steps to reduce their environmental impact have seen benefits to their business.
These range from improved brand image (43%), attracting more eco-conscious customers (38%), increased productivity and innovation (37%) and employee loyalty (34%). Over a third (31%) also say that they have benefited from increased revenue.

blog_marketing_advertising_casestudy_banner_02

Blog_Marketing_Advertising_CaseStudy_Banner_02

The marketing and advertising industry are masters at instigating behavioural change. Imagine an entire industry redirecting their superpowers of communication and strategy into protecting our planet. Tackling the climate crisis. That’s one hell of a creative brief we can get behind. 
Here are six marketing and advertising agencies who are taking increased steps towards climate action.

Helping businesses build low carbon websites: Complex Creative

<a href="https://ecologi.com/complexcreative" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Complex Creative</a> is a sustainable web design agency, helping businesses build low carbon websites through optimising for reduced file sizes, cleaning up drives, servers and databases and so much more, which in 2022 helped save 148 trees from websites alone. 
They are also a Million Tree Pledger business, an <a href="https://ecologi.com/business/climate-positive-workforce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi Climate Positive Workforce</a>® and have signed up to One Percent for the Planet to donate 1% of gross sales every year to their non-profit partners. Complex Creative is also one of the hundreds of businesses that have calculated their carbon footprint with <a href="https://ecologi.com/business/zero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi Zero</a> for free. Find out more about their story in the video below:
<div class="ecologi-video-full-width"><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PZxtOw6_pNY" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>

Selecting clients who walk the walk: Remarkably

<a href="https://ecologi.com/remarkably" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Remarkably</a> is a creative, brand, marketing and learning consultancy. Their purpose  &#8211; building brands for a remarkably better world.
Now in its third year, Remarkably has been climate positive from day one, achieved B Corp certification in 2021, and invests in a number of impact innovation projects globally.  As a Beta partner of <a href="https://ecologi.com/business/zero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi Zero</a>, the consultancy has been able to fully quantify its carbon footprint for the first time last year.

blog_marketing_advertising_casestudy_dashboard_remarkably-2

Blog_Marketing_Advertising_CaseStudy_Dashboard_Remarkably

If that is not enough, Remarkably has pledged to plant one million trees by 2030, <a href="https://ecologi.com/remarkably" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with 250,000 already planted</a>. 
Remarkably’s commitment to the triple-bottom line also extends to careful decision making for which clients to work with. A first analysis was shared in its inaugural impact report for 2022.

blog_marketing_advertising_casestudy_banner_03

Blog_Marketing_Advertising_CaseStudy_Banner_03

Science-based targets for carbon reduction: MSQ 

<a href="https://ecologi.com/msq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MSQ</a> was one of the first global marketing groups to become carbon negative. That means that across all 13 international offices they offset more carbon than they create. They have pledged to reduce their overall carbon emissions per employee by a further 50% by 2024 and have approved Science-Based Targets in place for 2030 with near-term targets validated by the SBTi. 
MSQ is a signed up member of the Million Tree Pledge, and has planted over 150,000 trees to date. The team promises to plant 500 trees for each client pitch, and also plant trees for a wide range of internal activities, including work anniversaries, Christmas celebrations, company meetings and more.

blog_marketing_advertising_casestudy_banner_04

Blog_Marketing_Advertising_CaseStudy_Banner_04

Going all-in for sustainability: Climbing Trees

<a href="https://ecologi.com/climbingtrees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Climbing Trees</a> is an SEO, Google Ads and Social agency with a mission of reducing emissions across their entire organisation. They have already moved to sourcing 100% renewable energy; changed their bank to a more planet-friendly supplier; reduced travel emissions with less commuting and more home working and increased use of public transport.
They use <a href="https://ecologi.com/business/zero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi Zero</a> to calculate their emissions, and what they cannot reduce is offset. Climbing Trees are also a <a href="https://ecologi.com/business/climate-positive-workforce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi Climate Positive Workforce</a>® and a Million Tree Pledger, as well as a B Corp.
<div class="ecologi-video-full-width"><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6DLHI1FSgro" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>

Putting people and the planet first: Propellernet 

<a href="https://ecologi.com/propellernet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PropellerNet</a> is a low carbon digital agency based in Brighton, and a certified B-Corp. The team believes in putting people and the planet first, and has a desire to go beyond offsetting and take radical action to help solve the planet’s environmental challenges. In 2022 alone, they became zero waste to landfill, installed solar panels on their offices and funded carbon avoidance projects to offset their historic carbon emissions since 2003.
Their sustainability drive is based around three big and highly admirable climate goals; Cut future carbon emissions by 50% or more by 2025 (and reduce to zero by 2030), draw down the emissions created over the past 20 years (since 2003), and plant one million trees by the end of 2024.
<a href="https://ecologi.com/propellernet" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-7953 size-full" src="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230605130413/Blog_Marketing_Advertising_CaseStudy_Banner_Propellernet.jpg" alt="" width="1600" height="550" srcset="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230605130413/Blog_Marketing_Advertising_CaseStudy_Banner_Propellernet.jpg 1600w, https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230605130413/Blog_Marketing_Advertising_CaseStudy_Banner_Propellernet-300x103.jpg 300w, https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230605130413/Blog_Marketing_Advertising_CaseStudy_Banner_Propellernet-1024x352.jpg 1024w, https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230605130413/Blog_Marketing_Advertising_CaseStudy_Banner_Propellernet-768x264.jpg 768w, https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230605130413/Blog_Marketing_Advertising_CaseStudy_Banner_Propellernet-1536x528.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></a>

Going beyond being sustainable - to being regenerative: Avery & Brown

<a href="https://ecologi.com/averybrown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Avery &amp; Brown</a> is a sustainable marketing agency for the built environment. They’re a signatory of the Sustainable Marketer Manifesto, supporters of The Better Business Act as well as members of Business Declares and the Climate &amp; Ecological Emergency Bill Alliance. 
Having pledged to halve their emissions before 2030 and achieve net-zero before 2050 while disclosing their progress every year &#8211; they have a deep commitment to restoring and regenerating our planet. They’ve also referred over 19 other businesses to join our community!

blog_marketing_advertising_casestudy_banner_05

Blog_Marketing_Advertising_CaseStudy_Banner_05

If your marketing or communications agency is looking to start its climate journey, get in touch below.

Speak to our team. We're here to help find your perfect climate solution

The Greenprint: Climate insights bulletin

blog_thegreenprint_header

Blog_TheGreenPrint_Header

Stay up-to-date with the biggest sustainability stories shaping the business landscape. Each edition highlights critical shifts in climate news, policy and finance, providing clear analysis of emerging risks and opportunities for sustainability professionals.

The Greenprint timeline

Connect with one of our climate experts

blog_carbon-credits_whitepaper_01blog_carbon-credits_whitepaper_header

Blog_Carbon credits_Whitepaper_01Blog_Carbon credits_Whitepaper_Header

UK Voluntary Carbon Market Guide: Best Practices for Climate Action

The voluntary carbon market plays an important role in corporate climate strategies – but its effectiveness relies on buyers doing due diligence and rigorous quality assessment on each project, as well as placing the purchase of credits in the right place in the climate journey.
To ensure meaningful climate impact, businesses must develop a comprehensive carbon strategy and find ways to fund only high-quality credits in the voluntary carbon market – and this guide shows you how to do so with Ecologi.

<h2>Table of contents</h2>
<ul>
<li>When to buy carbon credits</li>
<li>Our new carbon projects assessment framework</li>
<li>Ecologi&#8217;s core due diligence principles</li>
<li>How Ecologi scores and ranks carbon credit projects</li>
<li>Questions to ask your carbon credit supplier</li>
<li>Take action in the voluntary carbon market</li>
</ul>

blog_carbon-credits_whitepaper_01blog_carbon-credits_whitepaper_banner_01

Blog_Carbon-credits_Whitepaper_01Blog_Carbon-credits_Whitepaper_Banner_01

<h2>When should businesses buy carbon credits in the voluntary market?</h2>
Businesses must not use credits in place of making direct, measurable reductions in their emissions. Instead, follow these steps to ensure you buy your carbon credits on the right step of your corporate climate action journey, and in the right way:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Measure your emissions first – to allow you to understand where your business’s emissions are coming from. 
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Set science-based targets and work towards them – set ambitious targets aligned with the SBTi and compatible with the global 1.5ºC warming target.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Beyond value chain mitigation (BVCM) – design your BVCM portfolio to work alongside your decarbonisation plan and address your unabated emissions in each reporting year. Align it with SBTi guidance and the Oxford Principles. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Buy high-quality carbon credits – use this guide to ensure the carbon credits you buy meet rigorous quality standards. Remember, under the SBTi framework you’ll also need permanent carbon removal credits for neutralising your residual emissions when you reach your net-zero date.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Disclose and report transparently – publicly disclose information about your carbon credit purchases, and clearly communicate the limited role of carbon credits in your broader sustainability strategy.</li>
</ol>

blog_carbon-credits_whitepaper_01blog_carbon-credits_whitepaper_banner_02

Blog_Carbon-credits_Whitepaper_01Blog_Carbon-credits_Whitepaper_Banner_02

<h2>Ecologi&#8217;s carbon project assessment framework</h2>
In April 2025, we published a report summarising how we assess carbon credit projects against our rigorous proprietary rubric. A snapshot of what goes into our carbon credit project assessment is below, or you <a href="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20250428124112/Ecologi_Whitepaper_A4.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">download the full whitepaper here</a>.

<h2>Carbon project due diligence: Ecologi’s core principles</h2>
At Ecologi, we maintain general due diligence principles which we apply universally across the voluntary carbon market, to support our efforts to supply only high-quality carbon credits.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">ICROA-endorsed standards only – we supply credits exclusively from carbon standards which are ICROA-endorsed.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Responsive to ICVCM decisions – we support the ICVCM’s two-tick approach to providing CCP-Approval to project methodologies, and we go further still, to assess individual projects on their merits and limitations as well.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Keep the carbon credit life cycle as short as possible – 75% of our credits in 2024 came directly from project developers and their nominated dispensaries (as opposed to intermediaries on the secondary market), maximising the proportion of purchase price which goes to the developer.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Locally-appropriate projects only – we take care to ensure that supported projects are being applied in appropriate geographies, where they can have the greatest impact.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Deep project-level scrutiny – our extensive assessment criteria are specific to each type of project, and we assess every project against these criteria, ensuring the project’s specifics have been taken into account.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Methodological consensus – we synthesise data we receive from our partners Sylvera, BeZero Carbon, Calyx Global and Renoster) with our own in-house analysis to uncover where there is consensus about project quality, and improve confidence.</li>
</ul>

blog_carbon-credits_whitepaper_01blog_carbon-credits_whitepaper_banner_03

Blog_Carbon-credits_Whitepaper_01Blog_Carbon-credits_Whitepaper_Banner_03

<h2>How to evaluate carbon credits: Ecologi&#8217;s scoring methodology</h2>
We designed a three-layer assessment process which takes into account the merits and limitations of the carbon standard used, the carbon credit methodology used, and of the individual project design.
The tables below summarise some of the data inputs we use at each stage.

<h3>Assessment level: Carbon Standard</h3>
Examples: Gold Standard, Verra, Puro Earth, Isometric, Plan Vivo.

<h3>Assessment level: Methodology (or ‘Protocol’)</h3>
Examples: GS TPDDTEC, VM0048, ACM0002.

<h3>Assessment level: Project</h3>
Examples: GS 10790, VCS 1571.

Criteria in the assessment are categorised as either quality criteria or risk criteria, and are segmented by our three pillars of impact: Climate, Nature and People. Based on how it meets each criterion, the project gains points for quality criteria, and loses points for excess risk – ultimately giving a risk-adjusted value out of 100 for each of these pillars.
Having gathered our risk-adjusted pillar scores, we use our own unique scoring formula which weights the risk-adjusted Climate score of the project equally with the combined risk-adjusted Nature and People scores. The formula then produces an ‘overall’ score (also out of 100) for the project. In order to be supplied by Ecologi, projects must meet a minimum overall score of 80, and must achieve no lower than 65 in any given risk-adjusted pillar score.

blog_carbon-credits_whitepaper_01blog_carbon-credits_whitepaper_banner_04

Blog_Carbon-credits_Whitepaper_01Blog_Carbon-credits_Whitepaper_Banner_04

<h2>Key questions to ask carbon credit suppliers</h2>
Selecting the right carbon credit provider is important to help guide you to make informed choices as part of your corporate sustainability strategy. Before purchasing carbon credits, businesses should ask:
<h3>Project quality </h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you assess/validate/underwrite project quality? If so, how?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do your projects get good ratings from the ratings agencies? If so, what ratings are they?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you source credits directly from project developers, or from the secondary market?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you monitor projects over time to ensure continued success, and how do you remedy it, if a project&#8217;s quality drops?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Due diligence</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you ensure you are supporting the right projects in the right locations?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you account for project permanence and mitigate risks?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What makes your projects additional?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you assess the project&#8217;s impacts on climate, nature and people?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Positioning</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you contribute to the development of a high integrity voluntary carbon market?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you align your portfolios with the Oxford Principles? If so, how?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you reflect ICVCM guidance on carbon credit methodologies and technologies?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you build multi-year portfolios that align to mid- &amp; long-term SBTs?</li>
</ul>
As the voluntary carbon market evolves, corporate buyers have the power and the responsibility to demand high-impact credits to drive real climate progress. This means buyers have a responsibility to do due diligence before placing an order for carbon credits.

<h2>Take action in the voluntary carbon market</h2>
As a business committed to corporate climate action, understanding the voluntary carbon market is essential for making informed decisions about carbon credits. Our comprehensive whitepaper provides deeper insights into creating an effective sustainability strategy.
<a href="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20250428124112/Ecologi_Whitepaper_A4.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Download our full whitepaper</a> to learn how your business can navigate the voluntary carbon market with confidence.

<h2>Connect with one of our climate experts</h2>
Please complete our form to arrange a 30-minute discovery call to discuss your goals and get a tailored solution for your business.

blog_goodnews_header-2

Blog_GoodNews_Header

The Good News timeline

It’s not all bad. While there’s a lot of negative news about the climate, let’s not forget the good stuff. Find climate wins, reasons to be hopeful and plenty of positivity in our good news timeline.

Meet the marketing agencies leading the way on climate action

Marketing as a force for good?

Helping businesses build low carbon websites: Complex Creative

Selecting clients who walk the walk: Remarkably

Science-based targets for carbon reduction: MSQ

Going all-in for sustainability: Climbing Trees

Putting people and the planet first: Propellernet

Going beyond being sustainable - to being regenerative: Avery & Brown

Do you feel inspired?

More posts

The Greenprint: Climate insights bulletin

UK Voluntary Carbon Market Guide: Best Practices for Corporate Climate Action

The Good News timeline

Follow us

Members

Resources

© 2025 Ecologi

Stay in touch with Ecologi