Sustainability guidance

At LIONS we celebrate and encourage credible sustainability efforts at all levels of the industry.

Since 2023, entrants have had the opportunity to share details about the sustainability impact of the work submitted into the Awards. This voluntary question provides space to explain how the environmental considerations were addressed and what actions that were taken to mitigate negative effects.

This guide is intended to help you when submitting an entry by explaining how to share sustainability claims or initiatives related to the work.

You’ll find the Cannes Lions sustainability framework, the updated sustainability question for entrants, details on what the jury will be looking for in your responses, and some recommended tools and resources.

The framework and questions reflect industry good practice and have been developed with input from key sustainability stakeholders.

We recognise that sustainability approaches vary, so this guide is designed to be useful for a wide range of submissions, especially:

• Work featuring notable sustainability efforts (e.g. operational changes that reduced carbon emissions)
• Work with a sustainability-focused message

This guide was created by SLR, a global sustainability consultancy that leverages strategic insight, science-based data, and technical expertise to help businesses address complex sustainability challenges.

Rosie Towe, Director and Regan Leahy, Associate Director, specialists in sustainability, media and the societal and environmental impacts of media content led its development. Their work includes collaboration with industry coalitions like the Responsible Media Forum and DIMPACT, to drive discussion, insights and tools for industry-wide change.

This sustainability approach is built on three key pillars

1. Footprint: The environmental cost of the work. The impact of the work is considered, with efforts made to measure and reduce the footprint across its life cycle.
2. Integrity: Making meaningful claims. Sustainability-related claims are credible, meaningful and reflect the scale of the brand behind it.
3. Relevance: Reflecting long-term commitments. Sustainability-related claims align with the brand's sustainability strategy and relevant topics.

We’ve updated the question to focus on the most critical sustainability topics associated with advertising and media: climate change, integrity and brand relevance. The goal remains to recognise and encourage credible sustainability efforts at all industry levels.

As a member of AdNet Zero, we believe in the collective responsibility to reduce the carbon impact of developing, producing and running advertising to achieve real net zero. Please outline how this piece of work aligns with the brand's sustainability strategy and consider the following:

• Environmental cost: What steps were taken to measure, reduce and manage the environmental footprint of the work across its life cycle?

• Meaningful claims: What evidence can you provide to support any sustainability related claims made in the work, ensuring they are credible and meaningful?

• Long-term commitments: How do the sustainability-related claims reflect the brand's broader strategy and focus on relevant issues?

Please provide details of the benchmarks used to measure the success of this work's contribution to the overall strategy. This could include but is not limited to targets related to advertising business operations - advertising production - media planning and buying.

Cannes Lions supports and partners with sustainability-related industry groups, such as Ad Net Zero and the UN Global CMO Forum. If you're looking for tools, resources, or further information on sustainability, we'd recommend starting here.

Our Awards Experts are available year-round to support your entry journey, including guidance on sustainability questions.

Contact us: awards@canneslions.com.