A conversation with AdGreen’s Senior Account Manager, Sophie Broadbent.
How do we move beyond just talking about sustainability and actually build it into the way we produce creative work?
In an industry where tight deadlines, global travel, and ambitious ideas are the norm, the concept of low-carbon production might feel like a luxury, or maybe even a creativity-killer to some. But for AdGreen’s Senior Account Manager, Sophie Broadbent, it’s not just possible to work towards net-zero in the advertising industry, it’s necessary, empowering, and surprisingly straightforward.
We sat down with Sophie to talk about the current state of sustainability in production – what’s working, what needs to change, and how creative teams can take action without compromising on creativity. What makes Sophie’s story especially compelling is how personal it is. To her, it’s about values, purpose, and finding ways to do meaningful work that helps us all.
“I hope my children and grandchildren
will know that their mum did everything
she could to save their futures, while
there was still time.”
That quote alone tells you almost everything you need to know about Sophie, a true sustainability champion who is helping steer one of the world’s most dynamic industries towards a greener future.
Sophie is one of the driving forces at AdGreen, a green initiative that supports the advertising production community in reducing its environmental impact. Founded as a grassroots organisation by their pioneering Global Director Jo Fenn, AdGreen is making it easier and more accessible for companies to track and reduce their carbon footprint.
But Sophie’s path to environmental work started long before she joined AdGreen. It began on set, working as a runner and gradually climbing the ladder to become a producer. All the while, Sophie held tightly onto values that had shaped her from a young age: environmental and social justice, and embodying the change you want to see.
A personal mission
Sophie’s career has always been driven by this deep desire to work on projects that inspire change for the better – whether socially, culturally or environmentally. In 2019, a talk on the realities of the climate crisis sparked something new: a sense of responsibility. She knew she had to find a way to bring her professional skills into direct alignment with the challenges facing our planet.
“I urgently looked for personal ways I could use my skills in a work context to raise awareness and embody the change I wanted to see.”
That drive led her to discover AdGreen, and to the realisation that there was a huge opportunity in helping the advertising industry shift its production practices for the better. When a job came up managing the development of AdGreen’s signature tool, the Carbon Calculator, Sophie put everything into the application – and got the job.
AdGreen: Practical, powerful, and free
At the heart of their mission, AdGreen unites and educates advertisers and production suppliers, enabling them to reduce the negative environmental impacts of production. The AdGreen Carbon Calculator lets users track and manage the environmental impact of their production activities, gives a final carbon footprint and can even give early insight into expected emissions before a project goes ahead.
Crucially, the Carbon Calculator is free and easy to use.
“I hope people will feel empowered to use our free tools to take their own action – however that works best for them, and in whatever role they are in,” Sophie says. “People don’t always realise how quick and easy it is.”
For Sophie, part of the goal is getting everyone to try it, so they can reap all the benefits too.
Those benefits go far beyond compliance. Outside of AdGreen’s aim to enable and support the industry to both measure and reduce CO2e across advertising production activities, AdGreen also works with companies to help build their businesses. They help them get ahead of regulation, save money, create new job opportunities, and motivate and inspire their team with real tangible knowledge that can streamline their productions and exceed key targets.
As the platform continues to grow, AdGreen is evolving with it. A major turning point came with the relaunch of the simplified Carbon Calculator in 2024, giving the team full ownership of its development and paving the way for new features tailored to real production needs.
Among them is the recently launched Early Insights tool, designed to help teams forecast environmental impact during the planning stages of a shoot. It’s all part of AdGreen’s mission to make sustainable productions accessible – even standard – without sacrificing creativity or momentum.
Staying grounded in a fast-moving world
Like many people working in climate-related roles, Sophie has faced the emotional toll that comes with truly acknowledging the ecological crisis. She describes struggling with climate anxiety, and the weight that can come from knowing how much still needs to change. But she’s also found ways to stay positive – and to help others do the same.
“I stay hopeful by keeping busy and focusing all of my energy on finding other people who want to create positive change, and working together to help others – both to feel empowered, and emotionally supported and resilient for the future,” she says.
That sense of togetherness is vital, not just for progress but for personal resilience. Alongside her work at AdGreen, Sophie is a qualified counsellor and works part-time as a therapist, offering sessions outdoors in parks and by the sea in Brighton. As well as seeing regular clients, she volunteers to help people suffering with climate anxiety, and supports activists who are within the criminal justice system.
In 2024, Sophie stood for MP for The Green Party in Hove & Portslade. It was a natural extension of her belief that policy change must accompany personal action, and that engaging with the political process is a powerful way to help shape a more sustainable future.
“I think everyone – in all areas of the political spectrum – must take part in the collective decision-making process if we’re going to achieve the change we need.”
Leading with compassion
When asked how she motivates others – especially those who might feel resistant to change, Sophie keeps it simple: kindness, integrity, and compassion.
“By showing people it’s possible to be true to your morals and still have a successful career and family life,” she says. “And by being kind. I know we are all doing the right thing in our own way. We need to work together to find solutions which help us all meet our needs, while not hurting others.”
This thinking is indicative of Sophie’s leadership style too. Collaborative and emotionally intelligent, never pushy, but inviting and empowering. “I fully believe everyone wants a low-carbon future and to protect nature’s delicate ecosystems,” she says. “We just need to curate safe spaces so we can make it happen together.”
Which is exactly what Sophie and AdGreen are doing. Sophie is championing new conversations within the advertising production world, urging creatives and producers to lean into visioning and to use their skills to inspire others to do the same. She wants to help leaders feel more comfortable making environmental action a KPI for their businesses, and to embed sustainability into their core goals.
“Emotionally, we aim to help people connect with the climate crisis through practical action, and a framework which allows them to collaborate and enact change with others within their working environment.”
To those who might not know where to start that journey, Sophie’s advice is refreshingly simple: “Do what brings you joy! Follow your instincts and passions and find other people who share them,” she says. “Join groups and practise speaking about what motivates and inspires you – then search out, or create roles for you to enact them.”
The bigger picture
While Sophie celebrates the momentum and AdGreen’s growing user numbers, she isn’t going to paint an unrealistic picture of the state of the industry today. She knows there’s still a long way to go.
“Some companies are working hard to embed sustainable practice fully into their business model,” she says. “However, it’s not nearly enough to create the enormous scale of change we need.”
One of the most overlooked truths? The majority of a production’s emissions come from travel. “Historically the industry has focused on recycling and waste reduction on set,” Sophie starts, “However, we can see from our dataset that ‘people transport’ by far is the largest area of the footprints – and therefore presents the biggest opportunity for reduction.”
In fact, AdGreen’s data shows that ‘people transport’ accounted for over 70% of an average project’s emissions in 2024 – 71.8% to be exact. A critical insight that could radically shift how projects are planned, and their final impact, if more people understood it and looked at new and different ways of reducing transportation.
Still, there’s room for optimism. Conversations are shifting. More creatives are embracing environmental responsibility and actively using tools like AdGreen’s carbon calculator and their training resources to work in a more sustainable way.
A vision for the future
So what would real success look like for Sophie and AdGreen?
“It would be all brands, creative agencies, and production companies using the AdGreen Carbon Calculator to measure and reduce the carbon footprint of their work,” Sophie says. “Ultimately, we’d like to help achieve a net-zero carbon business model for our entire industry, worldwide.”
It’s an ambitious aim, but one that feels achievable and perhaps even more meaningful when you’ve had the chance to listen to Sophie speak. While she is inspiring others to do what they’re able to for the sake of the planet and our collective future, she’s quick to point out who in turn inspires her to keep moving forward.
“Our Global Director Jo Fenn who set up AdGreen, the Ad Net Zero team, as well as all of our Top 20 Superuser companies,” she says with a proud smile. “These organisations are hugely inspiring to others – but are driven by real people with creative vision and the ability to make things happen, which I hugely admire.”
Recent milestones, like the release of new features, solidifies AdGreen’s Carbon Calculator as a game-changing tool that doesn’t compromise on quality. And for those still on the fence, or worried what it might mean for their output, Sophie has a very clear message:
“Sustainable production
does not mean reduced creativity.”
Having had the chance to sit down with Sophie, it’s clear she’s not here to tick boxes – she’s doing the work because she genuinely cares, and is driven to inspire others to do it too.
Through passion, care, and a genuine belief in people’s ability to change things for the better, Sophie is making sustainability feel more approachable and like a shared responsibility. Her work with AdGreen is about making that responsibility feel manageable, practical and even empowering. We think it’s safe to say she’s doing exactly that.
For more information, connect with Sophie and AdGreen on LinkedIn, and checkout AdGreen’s website for easy access to everything they offer:
- Join or log in to the new AdGreen carbon calculator here
- Check out the calculator Quick Start Guide for help getting set up
- Email support@weareadgreen.org with any questions
- Download the 2025 Update Report here, and watch the webinar here
- Find the Early Insights webinar here
- Download the ‘about us’ deck here
