Sustainability at Hearst

Sustainability at Hearst: A Shared Responsibility Across Every Team

Sustainability matters to Hearst UK because it underpins our long-term business resilience and our responsibility to help address climate change. It also reflects the expectations of our audiences, clients and partners. As a leading media and publishing company, we recognise our role in shaping conversations, partnering across our industry, and inspiring positive behaviour change.

Sustainability is embedded across every level of our organisation, from leadership to day-to-day operations. This includes direction from our CEO and senior leadership team, governance through our Environmental Strategy Committee, editorial engagement via our Sustainability Representatives, and employee-led action through our Changemakers network.

Together, these groups ensure sustainability is not a standalone initiative, but integrated into how we operate, collaborate and make decisions across the business.

This approach enables us to translate ambition into action. In 2025, we delivered measurable progress across our operations, supply chain and content by focusing on practical, tangible initiatives.

In 2026, we are building on this momentum by continuing to embed sustainability across the organisation and investing further in our people to support delivery and scale impact.

Walking the Walk – How we Built the Foundations for Impact 

Our sustainability progress is built on a long-standing commitment to practical, measurable action. We focused on embedding sustainability across our operations, supply chain and content, ensuring that ambition was translated into delivery.

Reducing Waste and Emissions Across Publishing

We have worked across the full publishing lifecycle to reduce emissions and improve resource efficiency.

In 2024, we collaborated with suppliers to decarbonise print and paper production, including supporting Walstead UK’s transition to 100% renewable electricity. We also reduced waste across the magazine supply chain by minimising unsold copies and improving distribution efficiency, explored opportunities to lower logistics emissions through shorter routes and lower-carbon delivery options, and supported the responsible end-of-life treatment of magazines through recycling initiatives.

Alongside this, we strengthened the sustainability of our promotional products through an assessment process reviewing supplier ESG commitments, environmental policies and potential risks, ensuring more responsible sourcing and lower-impact materials.

These efforts have been critical in addressing our Scope 3 emissions, where the majority of our footprint sits. 

Driving Sector-Wide Change Through Collaboration

Alongside our operational work, we have partnered with organisations across the media and advertising sectors to accelerate progress and embed more sustainable practices industry-wide.

As long-standing PPA members, we have contributed to collective action alongside over 150 UK publishers. We have also supported the development of the Action Guide for Media to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions with GARM, Ad Net Zero, ISBA and 4As, and acted as early signatories of Ad Net Zero and the PPA Net Zero Pathway.

We have worked closely with clients to support more sustainable media choices and help raise standards across the media value chain.

Empowering Our People

Sustainability is embedded across Hearst UK because it is driven by our people.

By equipping teams with the right tools, training and governance, we ensure sustainability is not owned by a single function, but shared across the organisation, from editorial and commercial to operations and supply chain.

We have built this capability through:

• Specialist training on greenwashing, climate legislation and sustainable media
• Company-wide sustainability events, including Earth Day
• Governance and oversight through our Environmental Strategy Committee
• A dedicated sustainability editorial programme supporting credible, responsible content creation

Our editorial programme plays a particularly important role, as our audiences consistently tell us they care deeply about environmental issues and expect brands to lead by example. By supporting our editors with tools and guidance, we ensure sustainability content is accurate, trustworthy and aligned with audience expectations.

Alongside this, our Changemakers network brings sustainability to life across the organisation. Through volunteering initiatives, charity partnerships and events such as tree planting and clothes swaps, colleagues are able to actively contribute to environmental action beyond their day-to-day roles.

Together, these initiatives ensure sustainability is not a standalone agenda, but a shared responsibility — embedded across every team and function at Hearst UK.

These actions form the foundation of our environmental management system, enabling us to deliver measurable results.