The Times and The Sunday Times have today launched The Times Earth Ad Fund - a £1million advertising fund for sustainability SMEs and charities.

Five winners will earn £200,000 of prime Times, Sunday Times and Times Radio advertising inventory to promote their products or services to the influential Times audience with the titles also offering help and advice on messaging, marketing and branding. 

The Times Earth Ad Fund, welcomes applications from SMEs that have no more than 25 employees, but at least one, or turn over no more than £5m per annum. Entrants must detail a sustainable initiative, invention, product or service that will help Times readers lead more sustainable lives. Sustainability and Environmental Charities of any size are also eligible and encouraged to apply.

The ad fund is linked to the Times Earth digital hub, which contains all news about our planet, climate change, sustainability problems, initiatives and solutions. It's a place where Times journalists report on engaging stories, research and studies from around the world and take a deep dive economic look at sustainability to help readers make better-informed decisions. 

The Times Editor John Witherow said: "Times readers are concerned about the planet and we launched our Times Earth digital hub to showcase our climate and environment coverage. The Times and Sunday Times, with unrivalled reputations for in-depth reporting and analysis, are keen to examine solutions and help inform our readers on one of the great challenges facing the planet."   

News UK Chief Commercial Officer, Dominic Carter said: “Sustainability is a key topic of interest for Times and Sunday Times readers and our titles and broadcasting platforms are uniquely placed to educate and motivate readers, with an authoritative voice to shape the future.

“The Times Earth Ad Fund is a big opportunity for sustainability SMEs and charities to reach a highly influential audience with their products and causes and help to drive the sustainability agenda.”

The Times’ Clean Air for All campaign which launched in May 2019 is calling for legally binding air pollution limits based on World Health Organisation recommendations. With more than a dozen front page stories on air pollution since launching its own manifesto, several Times leaders and almost 100 other articles have been linked to the campaign.

In April this year the titles completed their pledge to remove all 250 tonnes of single-use plastic in their products with the polybags replaced by recyclable paper banding, which have created a sustainable space for advertising wrapping the popular weekend magazines. 

It launches on the first day of COP26, where The Times and The Sunday Times are hosting a Times Earth Hub, alongside Greenlit. It will host a number of keynote events and discussions covering international diplomacy and addressing global imbalances, the energy crisis and the challenges in getting to net zero, financial investment in the funding of the global cause and how the arts can be used to create sustainable behavioural change.

Times Radio’s Mariella Frostrup will be broadcasting her show live from the Hub, with fantastic guests joining the climate change conversation, and Times Radio Breakfast’s Luke Jones will be joined by journalists from The Times and The Sunday Times, giving daily analysis of the stories that matter from the COP26 each morning for a breakfast briefing.

SMEs and NGOs can apply for the Times Earth Sustainability Ad Fund here: https://thetimes.co.uk/timesearthfund, before November 14 and must be registered in the UK to qualify.

A Times panel including The Times Assistant Editor, Ian Brunskill, The Sunday Times Science Editor, Ben Spencer, News UK Chief Commercial Officer, Dominic Carter and MindShare Group Head of Strategy,  Rosie Kitson will decide the five winning organisations.  

You can read all Times Earth content at www.thetimes.co.uk/environment.