BAFTA albert 2023 annual review shows more productions committed to sustainability

The BAFTA albert 2023 annual review was released, detailing progress made by the film and TV industries in improving environmental sustainability. The report also looks at BAFTA albert’s strategic progress over the same period and details priorities for the coming year.

2023 was a landmark year for the screen industries with the most productions ever completing carbon footprints. Over 3,000 footprints were completed, an 11% increase on 2022. As well as more productions using the toolkit, individual productions also submitted, on average, 32% more data points per entry creating a richer data set. During the same period, we saw a 33% increase year on year in emissions per hour of content (16.6 tCO2e/hr).

It wasn’t just UK TV productions committing to more sustainable practices. Film footprints increased from 57 in 2022 to 78 in 2023. While internationally, 467 productions in 38 different countries submitted footprints.

April Sotomayor, Head of Industry Sustainability at BAFTA albert said, “The progress we saw in 2023 reaffirmed industry commitment to sustainability. Emissions numbers went up, partly as a result of more productions than ever before submitting data with even more detail. The breadth of the data we collected allows albert to develop targeted solutions that will expedite progress and help drive the industry towards net zero.”

This year’s report is also the first to publish the Climate Themes Snapshot, a summary of the climate content data submitted voluntarily by productions. Continuing Dramas and News included the most climate references, with over 70% of productions in those genres including climate content. The average across all genres was 31%, with the themes of food and agriculture, nature, waste and consumption being the most popular. The 2023 Snapshot will act as a benchmark to measure progress with more detailed approaches to measure impact being explored in 2024.

To help drive forward industry progress in the coming years, 2023 was also the year BAFTA albert launched a decarbonisation strategy for the whole industry titled the Climate Action Blueprint. The Blueprint aims to accelerate collective climate action across the film and TV industries. The strategy sets out four focus areas: On-Screen actions; Culture & Capability; Standards, Measurement & Reporting; Off-Screen actions. In the report, albert’s 2023 progress is detailed across these four areas.

Matt Scarff, Managing Director at BAFTA albert said, “The film and TV industries are aware that we need to act faster to reduce our emissions. Collective engagement with the Climate Action Blueprint is essential in achieving our shared sustainability goals and we are seeing positive and affirmative action being taken.”

2023 was a year of progress but rising emissions numbers and the growing threat of climate change means there is still much more to do. I’m immensely proud to be at the helm of an organisation which has such a pivotal role in helping the screen industries enact change, and I am excited to see what we can all achieve working together.”