Case study
How We Are Albert are changing the film & tv production industry
Film & Television
Carbon credits
Since 2011, BAFTA has supported the film and television industry through albert, the leading screen industry organisation for environmental sustainability. albert helps the industry to reduce the environmental impacts of production and create content that shares a vision of a sustainable future.
The BAFTA-owned, industry-backed organisation offers online tools and training, events, practical guidance and thought leadership to all screen industry professionals to help them take positive climate action.
At a glance
168k
184k
1,500+
About Albert
Location
UK
Company size
50 employees
Industry
Film & TV
Use case
Compensating the carbon emissions of Film & TV production
Services used
Tree planting and carbon avoidance credits
The issue
When you’re immersed in the fantasy world of a great film or TV show, it’s easy to forget that it could have a negative impact in the real world. But just a single hour of television production in the UK creates 13 tonnes of CO2. That’s more than the average British person emits in a whole year. And a big-budget blockbuster film will produce an average of 2,840 tonnes of CO2 during production. This would take 3,700 acres of matured forests a whole year to absorb.
The challenges
From the emissions that come from transporting film crew all around the world to scout locations and shoot scenes, to the energy consumed by equipment and the 4,000 hectares of deforestation needed to create a single sound stage, the toll of production on our natural environment can be heavy.
And that’s before we get into the later stages of the film’s life-cycle, such as marketing and distribution. Streaming online video alone produced 300m tonnes of CO2 in 2018, which is around the national output of Spain.
But film and TV are among the most cherished aspects of art and culture worldwide, and they play an important role in society in shifting perspectives and starting conversations. So it’s vital that the film and TV industry finds ways to continue creating onscreen content in a way that doesn’t damage the offscreen world.
The solution
Ecologi provides offsetting services by buying and retiring carbon credits, representing verified tonnes of carbon reductions that have already taken place. We have a firm and long-standing commitment to offering only the highest quality carbon avoidance offsets available on the market; all of the projects we buy credits from have been through a rigorous accreditation process by either the Gold Standard or the Verified Carbon Standard. In addition, we always aim to fund offset projects which meet other important sustainability and development standards, such as CCBS and SD VISta.
The results
With around 1,500 production companies reducing and offsetting emissions through this partnership, it’s a big win for both the industry and the environment. Productions that have already been offset include Celebrity Gogglebox, the Women’s Euros 2022, Changing Rooms and the ITV British Soap Awards 2022. Our partnership is expected to reduce around 100,000 tonnes of unavoidable carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) over two years. Here’s to more great film and TV, with less of the bad stuff.
“We’re delighted to be working with Ecologi. When combined with a clear reduction strategy, offsetting can support productions to achieve carbon neutral status.”
Katy Tallon, Industry Sustainability Manager, We Are Albert
