Cannes Lions has introduced “non-compulsory” sustainability reporting to the entry process for all Lions awards this year.
The reporting will use AdNet Zero’s five-point Action Plan as a guide and entrants will be “encouraged” to outline their CO2 emissions on the piece of work being submitted for an award.
The Festival said that it is collating the information to benchmark best-practice across the production and distribution of creative work around the world and that it will not inform the judging process.
However, all 2022 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Lions entry fees have been donated to five Lion-winning charities. Each non-profit has received an equal share of €226,860 (around AU$350,000).
The charities include Everybody Eats, which created “The Goodie Box” with DDB New Zealand Aucklandto encourage restaurant diners across the country to ‘pay’ for their leftovers. Helping to tackle food poverty and unnecessary waste — it won a Bronze SDG Lion last year.
Reporters Without Borders, which produced “The Truth Wins” with DDB Germany Berlin, will also receive some of the money following its Bronze SDG Lion. “The Truth Wins” shone a light on press freedom and utilised an innovative way of providing access to censored information for journalists in Russia, Turkey, and Brazil.
“We believe it’s our collective responsibility to drive action on sustainability through creativity,’ said Simon Cook, CEO of Lions.
“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.”
Since 2015, Cannes Lions has donated nearly €2 million (around AU$3.1 million) to charities, through the SDG Lions and Glass: The Lion for Change awards to support ongoing creative action for good.
