McCann Worldgroup has launched a sustainability department to move the network’s sustainability agenda forward. To lead the department, the agency has named Jaclyn Kaminski, a director of business leadership at McCann London, to the newly-created role of global director of sustainability.
The formation of the sustainability department comes on the heels of parent company IPG enacting a climate action plan to battle climate change, and shortly after McCann chairman and CEO Bill Kolb sent a note to the McCann Worldgroup network stating the importance of sustainability as a business imperative critical to the network’s growth. In it, he wrote that McCann Worldgroup will commit to being a net zero emissions company by 2040.
“We are far past the stage where we can talk about being a more responsible corporate citizen when it comes to sustainability—we need to take action. And we are,” Kolb said in the note. “The decisions we make now will determine the course of the next 30 years and beyond.” He went on to say that the agency has completed a global carbon footprint analysis that will help with its global sustainability commitments and carbon reduction strategies.
Kaminski will be responsible for embedding sustainability throughout McCann Worldgroup’s global business strategy, operations and culture, and her remit includes leading McCann Worldgroup’s net zero transition, developing an internal sustainability education strategy, global partnership strategy, management of the network’s carbon footprint analysis and client engagement.
“Sustainability is not just a business imperative, it is a human one,” Kaminski told Adweek. “The decisions we make now will determine the course of the next 30 years and beyond. Across our network we are taking action to create the conditions for a healthier workforce and environment, something that is critical to the future of our business and to our planet.”
Kaminski was co-lead on the agency’s global sustainability practice before it became a separate department. She received several sustainability business certificates at the University of Cambridge, U.K, including a post-graduate certificate in sustainability leadership.
Nannette Lafond-Dufour, president, global clients and business leadership at McCann Worldgroup, will collaborate with Kaminski in establishing and building out sustainability partnerships with each of McCann Worldgroup’s clients.
Kaminksi will also work with leadership across the network to create programs on the global, regional and local office levels to ensure that every McCann Worldgroup employee is engaged in the network’s progress.
McCann Worldgroup is also closely partnering on sustainability with IPG, which is taking bold steps on climate change, including setting a Science Based Target, sourcing 100% renewable electricity by 2030, and committing to reach net zero carbon across the entire IPG entire network by 2040.