OpenX

Verified to a limited level of assurance
Country of Headquarters
United States of America (USA)
Scopes of Emissions in Inventory
Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3
Pathway Roadmap Developed?
Yes – formally adopted
Status of Strategy
Implementing

Net-Zero Pledge

0%
0%
Pledge to Reach Net Zero by 
Pledge to Reach Net Zero by 2027
% progress
Scope of Emissions Included
Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3
Target Type
Year Goal was Publicly Announced
2022
Target Status
Achieved
Terminology Tags
Net-zero Emissions + Science Based
Net-zero Emissions
Science Based
Scope 1
Scope 2
Scope 3

This target was approved using a streamlined validation route exclusive to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

https://sciencebasedtargets.org/resources/legacy/2020/07/SME-Frequently-Asked-Questions_July-2020.pdf

OpenX Technologies Inc. (and its operating affiliates) commits to reduce Scope 1+2+3 emissions 90% by 2027 from a 2018 base year.

2027
Achieved
2021
Same as inventory boundary
Same as inventory boundary
Location-based method
Purchased goods and services, Capital goods, Upstream transportation and distribution, Waste generated in operations, Business travel, Employee commuting, Use of sold products, Downstream leased assets
All operations in inventory boundary
Verified to a limited level of assurance
Not Applicable
Alignment with 1.5 degrees trajectory
SBTi, GRP, GHG Protocol, Climate Impact Partners

No regulatory mandates apply.

OpenX is a member of Ad Net Zero (advertising NGO promoting net-zero standards), the SME Climate Hub Climate Commitment, and the Business Ambition for 1.5C campaign.

0
11,995
11,537
573
No
None

Pathways

General approach and action plan 
Roadmap Developed?
Yes - formally adopted
Status of Strategy
Implementing
General Pillars of Strategy
Energy efficiency, Offsets, Renewables or low-carbon energy, Customer education, Value chain engagement, Product/service transformation, Employee engagement/training/workforce development, Other
Energy efficiency, Offsets, Renewables or low-carbon energy, Customer education, Value chain engagement, Product/service transformation, Employee engagement/training/workforce development, Other
Year Adopted
2018
Terminology Tags
Net-zero Emissions + Science Based
Net-zero Emissions
Scope 1
Scope 2
Scope 3
1.5°C Pathway
1.5ºC Aligned
Climate Neutral
Decarbonization
GHG Removals

In 2018, OpenX made the decision to migrate its entire tech infrastructure and ad exchange to the cloud, selecting Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for its efficiency and scalability, as well as its operational carbon neutral status. Because Alphabet, Google’s parent company, operates an extensive renewable energy program, OpenX was able to dramatically reduce its GHG emissions by selecting GCP as its cloud platform partner. OpenX processes more than 250 billion ad requests per day and the migration to GPC allowed it to operate with far greater computing and energy efficiency.

In 2021, OpenX moved to a default remote-first work policy. The shift to remote work drove a reduction in OpenX’s emissions from commuting, which had previously been one of the company’s highest sources of Scope 3 emissions. We now measure the emissions generated from employees working from home as a key component of our emissions measurement data. We also measure the emissions from our business travel which enables employees to be more deliberate about when and where to travel for work.

As a result of the shift to remote work, OpenX was able to reduce our office locations from 9 in our baseline year of 2018 to 3 in 2022. In some markets, we moved to co-working spaces like WeWork. This decrease in our facilities footprint created a significant reduction in our Scope 2 emissions from electricity and heat use.

OpenX achieved a reduction of its carbon emissions for all three scopes from 24,44100 tCO2e in 2018 to 909 tCO2e in 2021. This amounted to a 96% reduction, setting the highest quality standard for the ad industry.

In parallel with the GHG inventory formalization and verification, on 24 March 2022, OpenX committed to the most ambitious Net-Zero targets allowed by SBTi at that time for companies with less than 500 employees: 50% reduction in Scopes 1 & 2 from a 2018 base year. The application required an in-depth calculation of the 2018 GHG inventory, which was conducted in parallel with the creation of the 2021 GHG inventory, following the same international standards. The OpenX initial Net-Zero targets and commitment to the SBTi standard was formally approved by SBTi on 11 April 2022 and then the updated OpenX long term target covering all three scopes was approved on 27 June 2022 (“OpenX Technologies Inc. (and its operating affiliates) commits to reduce scope 1+2+3 emissions 90% by 2027 from a 2018 base year”) publicly recognizing OpenX’s climate leadership.

As an official signatory of the SBTi pledge organized by the United Nations Global Compact to help leading companies align their actions with the Paris Climate Accords of 2015, OpenX is also recognized as a Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign member, joining nearly 1,500 leading companies that have committed to achieving emissions reductions in line with the most recent scientific calls to reduce global warming levels to less than 1.5°C. Note: Net-Zero target is published publicly on SBTI’s website.

SBTi Net-Zero Standard (RSK provided an assurance statement which concluded "OpenX has fulfilled the key requirements for the SBTi Net-Zero Standards as applied to SMEs by meeting both Near Term and Long Term targets.")
Goal 5: Gender equality, Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation, Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy, Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth, Goal 10: Reduced inequality, Goal 13: Climate action, Goal 15: Life on land
Operational adjustments, Customer education, External strategies (strategies to reduce indirect emissions and project-based offsets/credits)
Overall operational efficiency, Employee behavior modification, Automation, product/service switching, Governance improvements
Technological advancement, Customer behavioral change, Stakeholder engagement, Leadership buy-in/effective governance

The systemic impact of the California regulations have reduced emissions from our energy use in CA due to grid level improvements.

Yes

Reference response to Basic Pathway Details regarding offsets, furthermore, OpenX has taken several steps to provide support for the people of Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion which has been enabled in part through Russian revenues from fossil fuels. OpenX has a large presence in Poland and many of our employees have volunteered their time and resources to help the thousands of Ukrainian refugees in their region. In March 2022, OpenX implemented a policy in which our Polish employees could take additional paid time off for their volunteer efforts.

OpenX also provided resources for employees to donate to a variety of related charities including:

  • Donate to Ukraine Relief Efforts GoFundMe
  • Support for the Ukrainian Army
  • Polish Humanity Action
  • Foundation Ocelaenie
  • Many OpenX employees donated to these causes and OpenX made a $10,000 donation to the Donate to Ukraine Relief Efforts GoFundMe.
No
Yes

Refer to section above regarding offsets.

Operational adjustments, Customer education

OpenX has taken a leadership position in environmental sustainability within the advertising industry. As part of our sustainability initiative in 2022, we began the process of working with our clients, partners and industry’s trade organizations to bring more climate education, thought leadership and practical solutions to the advertising community. Some of efforts include the following:

1) OpenX published the Getting Smart on Sustainability in Ad Tech eBook, which served as a free educational resource for advertising executives to gain an understanding of key terms, global standards, emissions types and details on adTech’s contribution to global GHG emissions. The eBook, along with the OpenX Sustainability page and various blog posts on sustainability have helped OpenX bring a new level of awareness to brands, agencies, publishers and our various platform partners on the importance of understanding the topic of environmental sustainability, how we all contribute to the problem and what we can do together to decarbonize our industry.

2) OpenX has hosted numerous panel discussions and executive interviews at advertising industry events such as the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity and Advertising Week events in London, Tokyo, Sydney and New York. By bringing thought leaders from the worlds of climate innovation and advertising together to discuss important topics related to climate change and sustainability, OpenX has led the industry in increasing awareness and understanding of these important topics.

3) OpenX has brought sustainability education directly to our clients and partners. As the industry has become increasingly aware of the steps our company has made and the leadership position we have taken, OpenX has been asked by many brands, agencies and publishers for guidance. We have answered the call by conducting dozens of small group forums in which we walk our clients and partners through the process we have undertaken to become a more sustainable business, what we have learned along the way, and what other companies can do to follow our lead.

4) OpenX has brought sustainable media solutions to our advertising partners. OpenX Green Media Buys (GMBs) enable advertisers to estimate the carbon emissions from the media they run through the OpenX exchange exchange, and then offset those emissions with verified carbon removal projects. Both the data used to estimate the carbon emissions and the offsetting projects are provided by our partner, Scope3.

5) In addition to taking important steps to educate our clients, partners and the broader advertising community, we have also looked inward to ensure our own employees are literate in the issues related to environmental sustainability. We have held numerous company meetings, town halls and offsites in which OpenX exectivies, along with our climate consultant, Dr. WIlliam Wescott, to engage all employees in our sustainability program and share the progress we have been making on our emissions measurement efforts, Net-Zero targets and CarbonNeutral ® certification.

Energy/fuel switching, Operational adjustments

OpenX continues to work and collaborate with GCP to enable more data centers using climate-friendly power sources. Additionally, OpenX is revisiting the company travel policy to reduce the volume of unnecessary travel.

Yes

Beyond our efforts to promote an inclusive and diverse work environment, OpenX has also taken action to mitigate our organization’s potential climate justice impacts. We have specifically chosen carbon removal projects, through our partnership with Climate Impact Partners, that support developing regions and underserved communities across many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These carbon removal projects are also aligned with the SBTi Net-Zero Standard.

About

OpenX

Description

OpenX is a business-to-business technology company headquartered out of Pasadena California. As one of the world’s leading programmatic sell-side platforms (SSP) OpenX supports ad monetization for over 130,000 publisher and app developers across web, app, and connected TV environments. OpenX’s sell-side platform connects into the largest demand side platforms (DSPs) in the world. These DSPs include but are not limited to The Trade Desk, Google DV360, Microsoft’s Xander, and the Yahoo DSP. DSP technology allows brand’s and agencies to bid on publisher inventory in real-time. OpenX’s entire technology stack is hosted on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and OpenX’s platform generates over 300 billion ad requests every day. Specifically, OpenX uses Compute Engine to process all the ad requests, Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for creating containers, and then audience data is processed on Dataproc and BigQuery for ad hoc analysis. The primary driver of GCP utilization is the volume of ad requests from publishers and bid requests from advertisers. Since migrating the exchange to GCP in 2019, OpenX has been a top-25 global user of GCP’s services and one of their select partners.

City of Headquarters
Scope of Emissions Included
Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3
UNFCCC Categories Included
Inventory Verification Status
Verified to a limited level of assurance
Company (For-Profit)
Technology
51 - 500
United States of America (USA)
Kenneth Kharma
kenneth.kharma@openx.com
50-500
OpenX is a supply-side platform (SSP) that offers a software system that allows publishers to offer their available inventory to ad exchanges and demand-side platforms (DSP)s.
Executives or C-Suite
Entity-Wide (Operational or Financial Control)
GHG Protocol, ISO 14064, TCR’s GRP
TCR
Yes
OpenX is a global company with leased offices in the USA (CA, NY) and in Poland (Krakow), with employees who primarily work from home, some of whom are in the Asia/Pacific in addition to N. America and Europe.
Operational Control
Calendar Year
January
573
2021
Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3
GHG emissions from mobile sources (e.g. emissions produced by the combustion of fuels in engines used for transportation, construction, agriculture, and forestry).
Indirect emissions from purchased electricity, Indirect emissions from purchased heat
Location-Based Method
Upstream transportation and distribution, Waste generated in operations, Business travel, Employee commuting, Use of sold products
2
Verified to a limited level of assurance
Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3
Upstream transportation and distribution, Waste generated in operations, Business travel, Employee commuting, Use of sold products
20182021
Scope 1
0
Scope 2
12159.8
Scope 3
Category 1
Purchased goods and services
15.9
Category 2
Capital goods
5614.4
Category 3
Fuel and energy-related activities
3810.6
Category 4
Upstream transportation and distribution
294.6
Category 5
Waste generated in operations
249.4
Category 6
Business travel
561.6
Category 7
Employee commuting
1726.6
Category 8
Upstream leased assets
0
Category 9
Downstream transportation and distribution
0
Category 10
Processing of sold products
0
Category 11
Use of sold products
0
Category 12
End-of-life treatment of sold products
0
Category 13
Downstream leased assets
0
Category 14
Franchises
0
Category 15
Investments
0
Scope 1
0
Scope 2
165.1
Scope 3
Category 1
Purchased goods and services
0
Category 2
Capital goods
0
Category 3
Fuel and energy-related activities
0
Category 4
Upstream transportation and distribution
10.8
Category 5
Waste generated in operations
15
Category 6
Business travel
57
Category 7
Employee commuting
22.4
Category 8
Upstream leased assets
0
Category 9
Downstream transportation and distribution
0
Category 10
Processing of sold products
0
Category 11
Use of sold products
0
Category 12
End-of-life treatment of sold products
0
Category 13
Downstream leased assets
0
Category 14
Franchises
0
Category 15
Investments
0

Employee WFH (Work-from-home)
2018 = 8.4 CO2e (t)
2021 = 302.1 CO2e (t)

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