Ads for Volvo cars planted 420 baby coral on Great Barrier Reef
Volvo Car Australia’s digital advertising generates carbon, but a new initiative offsets the impact - and plants new coral on the Great Barrier Reef.
Digital advertising for Volvo Car Australia has directly contributed to 420 baby coral being planted and more than 7 tonnes of carbon being offset, as part of a new initiative with the company’s media partners to decarbonise.
Working with media agencies Mindshare Australia and GroupM and their Digital Sustainability Initiative, Volvo has offset the impact of its advertising by working alongside the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to plant baby coral in crucial areas of the reef.
“Volvo Car Australia has committed to only selling electric vehicles by 2026, four years ahead of our global all-electric target."
The planet needs healthy oceans to survive and healthy oceans need healthy reefs. Oceans provide 50 per cent of the world’s oxygen, the GBR Foundation says, and their coral reefs support 25 per cent of all marine life and coastal blue carbon ecosystems store carbon dioxide 30 to 50 times faster than rainforests.
“Volvo Car Australia has committed to only selling electric vehicles by 2026, four years ahead of our global all-electric target. The cars are a big piece of the puzzle – but we’re also working through our entire supply chain to decarbonise manufacturing and distribution,” Volvo Car Australia Managing Director Stephen Connor said.
“That includes advertising and marketing – because while the carbon footprint from ads is relatively small compared to making vehicles from raw materials – every action counts. And Australia’s energy mix, still largely fossil fuels, means the ads we run here can be three times more carbon intensive than other parts of the world.”
The baby coral and offsets are from the advertising run in the third quarter of 2022 - from July to September. “And that’s just the start,” Connor said.
- Images courtesy of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
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