Bringing the outdoor advertising industry together, the Advancing Sustainability in Out-of-Home (OOH) Advertising event, held in Gadigal Country on July 23, discussed progress and actions for a sustainable future.
Organised collaboratively by the OMA, JCDecaux, oOh!media, and OMS, the event recognised the significant challenges facing the media industry and the importance of collaboration as the key to future success.
Elizabeth McIntyre, CEO of the OMA, opened the event, stating, “The intention for the industry today is to educate, on a broader scale, how some of our members are approaching the ESG opportunity, how we are collaborating with key stakeholders in our industry to address the issue, and as an industry how we hope to continue to work with Government to influence a better outcome for everyone.”
McIntyre added, “The footprint of our industry on the wider community is significant. A recent Deloitte Study found that for every dollar spent in out-of home, contributed a dollar to the economy. Not many people realise that the outdoor industry contributes over $665 million to the economy including providing over 21,000 public infrastructure assets including bus shelters.”
The first-panel discussion, Out-of-Home for Good, featured Senator Jenny McAllister – Assistant Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy, who was joined by CEO Steve O’Connor (JCDecaux), Cathy O’Connor (oOh!media) and John O’Neill (OMS) in exploring the role of OOH in driving sustainable change. The discussion was moderated by the CEO of the OMA, Elizabeth McIntyre.
Senator Jenny McAllister said, “There is a global economic transformation underway as the world decarbonises. Australia is well positioned to take advantage of it, and we should all be optimistic about the opportunities it presents.”
The following panel addressed the industry collaboration needed for sustainability and saw Richard Bean, executive director Ad Standards, Sophie Madden, CEO
Media Federation Australia, John Pabon, sustainability author, consultant, and UN advisor, discuss the GARM framework, sustainability initiatives, and greenwashing. Vanessa O’Hanlon, Senior PR & Comms consultant at oOh! Media moderated the discussion.
Subsequently, a panel featuring Alexandra Heaven, head of ESG at JCDecaux, and Sarah Young, group director of ESG at oOh!media, Joanna Georges, head of ANZ at Scope3 and Christopher Sewell, co-founder of Net Zero Media explored what action can be taken today to reduce emissions.
The concluding panel discussion, consisting of Nigel Spicer, general manager, Cactus Imaging and Jose Sanz, Asset Development director, JCDecaux analysed the opportunities and challenges of classic banner materials and recycling.
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