A Look at Vox Media’s Commitment to Sustainability

It’s clear that every company has an important role to play when it comes to the climate crisis. As a modern media company, there are a number of key roles we see ourselves playing in driving progress, aligned with the work that we do.

The first is through our industry-leading journalism, helping inform audiences about everything from policy to innovation to activism to living a more sustainable life. Each month Vox Media reaches over 95 million self-identified eco-friendly users, as our editorial brands each cover sustainability through the unique and trustworthy lens its audiences turn to them for. Whether it’s short-form videos on Instagram and TikTok from Vox and NowThis, podcast episodes from award-winning shows like Today, Explained and Stay Tuned about everything from glacier melt in Antarctica to climate activism, in-depth written features from Vox and New York on the most urgent challenges facing us, a forum with President Joe Biden hosted by NowThis that included climate injustice as one of six key issues that matter most to young generations, or reporting from the Verge on technology’s role in the climate crisis, we are taking a cross-platform approach to informing and inspiring our audiences.

Another way we can make an impact is by being deliberate about who we partner with–ensuring we are working with brands we know care about these issues as much as we do. We are proud of the work we do with our brand partners, and the meaningful difference we’ve seen our work make, while driving the results that our clients expect. Which is why we pay close attention to who we partner with and the messages we amplify.

At the start of 2021, Vox Media made the decision to no longer accept ad dollars from fossil fuel companies, or any companies that mine resources from the earth that are non-renewable, including natural gas companies. This also includes not partnering with lobbyist groups whose purpose is to support fossil fuel companies.

This year, we are proud to strengthen our commitments to contributing to a more sustainable future across a number of areas expanding on how we partner with advertisers, how we cover the issues across our industry-leading editorial brands, and how we engage with the stakeholders of the communities in which we operate.

• Making carbon neutral solutions available to our advertising partners: As announced this week, through a partnership with Scope3, Vox Media will measure, reduce and offset carbon emissions of ad campaigns running across a suite of new green media products (GMPs) within our ad marketplace, Concert. This will give our partners an easy way to invest in sustainable, carbon neutral ad solutions.
• Increasing our editorial focus around sustainability: Our editorial brands will continue to cover the important issues surrounding climate and sustainability, but with even more urgency. We will launch new franchises from Vox and NowThis, including comprehensive packages around Earth Month, the COP28 Global Climate Conference, Climate Week and other key moments. We’ll explain some of the biggest challenges facing our planet, including a Vox examination of droughts and water shortages in the desert southwest and a five-part series from Vox Video focussed on success stories and promising signs that show we CAN make real progress on climate if we do the work. Across NowThis and our climate-focused NowThis Earth social channels, we’ll examine climate tech innovations, solutions to the world’s waste challenge.
• Accelerating the impact of our partners’ advertising campaigns: We have partnered with the world’s leading talent agency, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), to develop new and exciting programs that align brands with celebrities, athletes, and influencers who are leading the charge around this cause, as a means to accelerate the reach and impact of our partnerships. By pairing our editorial brands’ influence with the added reach of a celebrity, we’ll help our partners drive even more awareness around how people can make a difference.
• Supporting industry organizations aimed at driving change: We are proud to be a founding member of the US chapter of Ad Net Zero, whose mission is for immediate, collective industry action to decarbonize ad operations and increase the promotion of sustainable products, services, and behaviors.

These are the start of a number of commitments Vox Media is making in 2023 as we prioritize the role we can play in taking on the climate crisis.