Global Reporting Initiative Reports

GRI Indicator 305-3
Reporting Level Complete
Sustainable Development Goals

Other indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Scope 3)

Smart travel policies – traveling less where possible, traveling lighter and traveling smarter – is a shared goal that we have committed to.

Interpublic (IPG) is committed to reducing our Scope 3 emissions by reducing employee travel and reporting appropriately on our progress. IPG has issued smart travel policies to employees which focus on traveling less where possible, traveling lighter, and traveling smarter. As a client services business, much of our travel is essential, therefore, we work to limit our impact when possible. IPG’s program tracking travel emissions was one of the first of its kind to be instituted at a Fortune 500 company.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought changes to the workplace that will have long-term effects. For IPG, these changes include less commuting and less business travel. When we adopted work-from-home protocols we increased our use of virtual meetings, telepresence applications, and other technologies whenever possible. As IPG offices and agencies have begun to re-imagine what it will mean to “go to work” post-pandemic, we foresee a great deal of flexibility built into the work model, with a hybrid of in-office and work-from-home arrangements. This will likely reduce the amount of business travel conducted for the foreseeable future, and reinforce our efforts to reduce Scope 3 emissions.

Several years ago, the IPG travel department launched a new way to track carbon emissions related to our business air travel, and a way for our employees to be mindful about the impact of those emissions on our environment.

To help ensure that business air travel across our organization is as sustainable as possible, we have enhanced our online booking tool to allow business travelers to sort air travel by carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as well as by time and cost. This tracking system has been launched in nearly all countries where online booking is available, allowing our business travelers to assess comparative CO2 emissions between IPG preferred carriers. This tool allows us to make smarter travel choices that are less damaging to the environment.

By better understanding the impact each of us have on our environment, the more our employees can contribute in small ways to the ongoing health of our communities.

In 2019, IPG’s more than 54,000 employees around the world traveled a total of 318,063,818 miles by airplane, resulting in total emissions of 112,964 tCO2e including radiative forcing.

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