Climate Neutral is a non-profit cofounded by the folks behind the travel gear company Peak Design. The idea behind Climate Neutral was to help companies measure, offset, and reduce their carbon footprints using data composed of research-based estimations. Although it wouldn’t be the most precise measurement, it wouldn’t be inaccurate. And Climate Neutral’s method would empower businesses of all sizes and industries to circumvent pricey consulting firms and use their savings to support carbon offsetting initiatives around the world. With enough carbon offsets purchased, companies could reduce their net carbon footprint to zero and receive the designation “Climate Neutral.”

In turn, the certification empowers consumers to shop from companies that are not just investing in sustainability, but taking responsibility for their carbon emissions. 

As a certified Climate Neutral company, we know what DEPT®’s carbon footprint is. 

Not many other businesses can say the same. 

Furthermore, as a twice-certified company, we know what our carbon footprint was the year before. This means that we’ve been able to measure the success of our sustainability initiatives as a company in terms of actual tonnes of CO2. 

Very few businesses can say that.

For this year, as we anticipate our third certification in 2023, we’re doubling down on reducing the emissions associated with our offices and our business travel, which is ramping back up post-pandemic. 

We’ve committed to goals that include acquiring at least one large office building that is either LEED or BREEAM certified and also to continue adjusting our travel policy to ensure that we’re taking advantage of more eco-friendly forms of transport wherever we can. 

We expect these actions to lead to significant reductions in our direct and indirect emissions, and have already seen the first adjustments to our travel policy (booking group flights where possible) cut those associated emissions in half.

Of course, it’s not all just about measurement and reduction. As we continue to work on our reduction goals, we’re proud to be offsetting our current carbon emissions through our friends at Terra Neutra. This year the offsetting projects we’re supporting include a wind farm in Turkey and a reforestation project in Uganda. Both of these projects may be actively working to remove carbon from the atmosphere but their missions have positive impact at the human level as well. 

The Mugla wind farm in Turkey will create long term job opportunities for locals and help reduce dependency on energy imports, paving the way for even more renewable energy projects like it. 

Restoring the Kitalu forest in Uganda also carries significant humanitarian benefits. In this region, deforestation is a major cause of poverty and the project offers a per tree stipend for farmers who participate in it. Not to mention these farmers will be able to reap the long-term benefits of the growing global market for carbon offsets. Additionally, the project also carries with it a health outreach component, helping educate local communities on HIV, malaria, and other medical issues. 

When we first became Climate Neutral certified, we took our first steps on a long road toward becoming a truly sustainable company. Our journey didn’t stop then, and it hasn’t stopped now. We still have a long ways to go, but we’re also proud of the accomplishments we’ve made en route.

We are proud to announce that we have become climate neutral certified. DEPT® became certified after working with the Climate Neutral organisation to measure and offset our 2020 carbon footprint, while proving our long-term commitment to implementing emissions reduction plans.

“DEPT® and our other Climate Neutral certified brands are leading the global shift to a net-zero economy by doing what all companies should be doing immediately: measuring, offsetting and reducing their carbon emissions,” says Climate Neutral CEO, Austin Whitman. “Our label helps consumers identify these brands. It’s a recognisable and trusted symbol that turns everyday purchases into meaningfully positive climate action.”

DEPT®’s CEO, Dimi Albers, added: “Becoming climate neutral certified holds us to account for our emissions and is the bare minimum of what DEPT® – and all agencies across the board – should be doing. It’s a signal of intent to our 1,750-strong team of Depsters and wider community that we are not only digital innovators, but also people who genuinely want to make a positive impact on the world. We are incredibly proud to be part of a carbon neutral company, and I hope we’ll inspire other companies to follow suit.”

DEPT®’s carbon footprint is being offset in partnership with Terra Neutra by providing poverty-stricken families in Kenya with clean energy cooking stoves. The initiative is part of the Hifadhi Livelihoods project, which protects 18,000 hectares of Kenyan forest each year by preventing rural households from using wood to fuel their homes.

In addition to offsetting, we are reducing our emissions by rebooting the DEPT® travel policy, and hosting our IT load and client platforms in partnership with carbon neutral hosting service, Microsoft Azure. 

The certification also demonstrates a commitment to sustainability that can be seen in our work with environmentally-conscious clients, including Indigo Ag (where we developed apps and a new marketplace to drive agriculture innovations that aim to feed the world more efficiently), and Justdiggit (where we built a direct donations platform to help train African farmer communities in areas of drought).

The climate neutral certification coincides with the release of our first impact report and marks the opening chapter in our ongoing impact mission and quest to gain B Corp certification by the end of 2021.

When we released the first-ever DEPT® Impact Report last year, we were still in the midst of our B Corp journey.

Since then, we’ve not only achieved B Corp certification, we’ve also been named one of the Best for the World™ B Corps in the Governance category – meaning that our score for Governance was among the top 5% of B Corps of our size. 

But, as we said last year, that’s only the beginning.

Our journey towards becoming a #goodcompany continues, but with this year we’re very excited to share the progress we’ve made over the course of 2021 in our newest Impact Report. 

Here’s a snapshot.

We’re bigger than ever, but still small enough to care. Following the addition of 10 exciting new DEPT® teams, our total number of Depsters jumped from 1,300 in 2020 to over 3,000 spread across 18 countries in 5 continents as of the time of this report’s release. Although we’ve nearly doubled in size, we’re still powered by the culture and creativity of a smaller agency.

Our 1% for good mission just got bigger. In 2021, 0.67% of our revenue was donated to charity or through pro bono work, up from 0.5% in 2020. That might not sound like much, but bear in mind that it’s not just our size that’s bigger than ever – our revenue is as well. And so is the 1% of our revenue we’re on a mission to give back, whether that’s through donation or pro bono work.

We’re confident we’ve established a better benchmark for our carbon footprint. Our footprint in 2021 measured just under 10,500 t/CO2, up from 5,500 t/CO2 in 2020. Given the impact of the pandemic on offices, travel, and commuting, however, we’ve always known that our 2020 footprint would be an outlier. In any case, we remain a Climate Neutral company, and have continued to offset the entirety of our footprint through our friends at Terra Neutra.

Gender equality is on track. The percentage of women at DEPT® has increased from 42% to 46% and we’re confident that we’ll reach 50% in 2022. Additionally, 42% of DEPT® managers identify as women or nonbinary – meaning we’ve achieved the incremental goal of 40% we set last year!

Other aspects of DE&I – including race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation – are making steady progress. While challenges with our previous people data system prevented us from collecting data on these aspects of identity last year, we’ve already made the switch to a better system. Furthermore, we’ve come to realise that DE&I looks different depending on the country or region of the world we’re working within. We’re now pivoting toward a series of regional DE&I Strategic Planning processes, assisted by global initiatives like anonymous recruitment.

Helping other good companies do more good. Our work pioneers tech and marketing to help brands stay ahead. But we specifically want to make sure our pioneering work is helping purpose-driven companies achieve their missions of creating a more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive world. To that end, over the course of the past year, 8.6% of our revenue came from purpose-driven work and we completed 99 impact projects.

As the world evolves, we’re determined to evolve with it in a positive way.

In just under a year, DEPT® has gone from becoming a Certified B Corporation® to being recognised as one of the Best for the World™ B Corps of 2022, putting it in the top 5% of B Corps in its size range around the world.

Every year, B Lab recognises the top-performing B Corps creating great impact through their businesses, naming them Best for the World™ across the five impact areas evaluated on the B Impact Assessment: community; customers; environment; governance; and workers. 

DEPT® has been recognised in the governance category after achieving a top score for its overall mission, ethics, accountability and transparency, as well as embodying what it means to use business as a force for good. 

It is only one of four B Corps with more than 1,000 employees to be recognised in its category, and one of 20 companies of its size group to be recognised across all five lists. 

B Lab says that businesses are recognised as being Best for the World™ in governance for demonstrating how “their best practices are focused on how they engage employees, board members, and the community to achieve their mission, as well as employee access to financial information, customers’ opportunities to provide feedback, and the diversity of their governing bodies.”

Pooja Dindigal, Global Impact Manager at DEPT®, said: “As a Certified B Corporation®, DEPT® already meets the high standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose, but to be recognised as a top performer within our first year makes us incredibly proud.

“This achievement proves that aspiring to be the best agency both in and for the world is a winning strategy, and we’re honoured to be recognised for leading the way in using business as a force for good to transform the global economy to benefit all people, communities and the planet.”

Initiatives that have supported DEPT®’s success include becoming a Climate Neutral certified company for the second year in a row, hiring a Global Impact Manager to accelerate sustainability and DE&I initiatives, and offsetting our current carbon emissions through Terra Neutra, which includes supporting offsetting projects which are a wind farm in Turkey and a reforestation project in Uganda. 

Earlier this year, DEPT® was also recognised for its impactful project work at the inaugural Anthem Awards (an offshoot of the Webby Awards), taking home seven trophies for its purposeful and mission-driven work for companies including Patagonia, Indigo AG and the Eurovision Song Contest. To name just a few. 

We hope that DEPT® can inspire other businesses to join the B Corp movement and make a positive impact on the world. We are living proof that you can be the best for the world on your journey to being the best in the world.

Check out the full Best for the World™ 2022 lists.