On Tuesday the 23rd of July, the Advancing Sustainability in OOH Advertising event was held on Gadigal Country, organised in collaborative effort between the OMA, JCDecaux, oOh!media and QMS. The purpose of the event was to bring the outdoor advertising industry together, to discuss progress and actions for a sustainable future in OOH advertising. The event recognised that there are major challenges facing the media industry in the coming years and the key to success will be collaboration, thus it marked a substantial step in the right direction for the industry.
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 finding that for every dollar spent in Out-of-Home, another dollar is contributed to the economy. Not many people realise that it is the Outdoor industry that contributes over $665 million to the economy that includes 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's Steve O'Connor (JCDecaux), Cathy O'Connor (oOh!media) and John O'Neill (QMS) 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. This Discussion was moderated by Vanessa O'Hanlon, Senior PR & Comms consultant at oOh!media.
Subsequent to this, a panel featuring Alexandra Heaven, Head of ESG, JCDecaux; Sarah Young, Group Director - ESG, oOh!media; Joanna Georges, Head of ANZ, Scope3; Christopher Sewell, Co-Founder, Net Zero Media explored what action can be taken today on emissions reduction.
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.
