Cannes Lions includes Sustainability reporting as part of submissions

To promote best-practices across production and distribution of creative work, all entrants will be encouraged to outline their C02 emissions on the piece of work being submitted.

Cannes Lions has announced the introduction of non-compulsory sustainability reporting to the entry process for all Lions awards in 2023. AdNet Zero’s five-point Action Plan will be the guiding factor with all entrants being encouraged to outline their C02 emissions on the piece of work being submitted.

The data and information is being collated by the Festival to benchmark best-practice across the production and distribution of creative work globally.

Simon Cook, CEO of Cannes Lions, said, “We believe it’s our collective responsibility to drive action on sustainability through creativity. That’s why we’re embedding sustainability across all of the Lions awards this year to inform best-practice and support the ambitions of Ad Net Zero. The SDG Lions’ winning charities show how creativity can drive action to meet the ambitions of the Global Goals and we’re delighted to support the ongoing work of these inspirational charities.”

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The SDG Lions award, launched in 2018 in partnership with the United Nations, aims to advance awareness of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): a collective ambition to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all by 2030.

As part of the Festival’s ongoing commitment to driving action on sustainability, all 2022 SDG Lions entry fees have been donated to five Lion-winning charities with 45,372 euro donation each. They are fighting for vital causes, from birth control rights, to freedom of speech; food poverty to disability awareness.

Everybody Eats, a New Zealand based charity behind ‘The Goodie Box’, created with DDB New Zealand Auckland, encourages restaurant diners across the country to ‘pay’ for their leftovers and won a Bronze SDG Lion in 2022. 

Reporters Without Borders, an NGO behind ‘The Truth Wins’ developed alongside DDB Germany Berlin, spotlighted the importance of press freedom, and provided access to censored information by prominent journalists from Russia, Turkey and Brazil through Twitter, using lottery numbers as an access code. It also won a Bronze SDG Lion. 

‘Change the Ref, Inc. advocates for gun control rights in America and the non-profit collaborated with Leo Burnett Chicago to create the ‘The Lost Class’. A stunt that tricked gun ownership advocates into speaking at a memorial for gun crime victims, it brought mass attention to the issue of gun violence, and took home a Silver SDG Lion.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) worked with adam&eveDDB London who developed the ‘#WETHE15’ campaign film. Promoting the disability inclusivity movement, the film aired during the Tokyo Paralympic Games, and won a Bronze SDG Lion. 

Nonprofit GEPAE (Grupo Estratégico para la Pastilla Anticonceptiva de Emergencia) along with Ogilvy Honduras developed ‘Morning After Island’. The non-profit advocates for women’s birth control rights in Honduras and won a Bronze SDG Lion.