The work has only just begun “I hope Picture Zero hasn’t got a limited shelf life,” Smith muses. “There’s a huge challenge ahead – and we are in the business of efficiency, which will always exist.” The climate clock is ticking: 2024 marked the first 12-month period during which temperatures were consistently over the 1.5° threshold that scientists have long been telling us to avoid happening. “This doesn’t mean the world has permanently passed that 1.5° threshold of warming, but what it does tell us is how serious things are getting,” Smith concludes. To learn more about the valuable work that the team at Picture Zero is doing, head to the website: picturezero.com
» I hope Picture Zero hasn’t got a limited shelf life. There’s a huge challenge ahead – and we’re in the business of efficiency, which will always exist «
plan for a production, as well as help to identify public transport opportunities ahead of time. “A lot of it is also thinking about your sphere of influence as individuals,” Smith adds. “The choices we make around how we travel and eat – and how that can influence others to adapt.” One new approach recently introduced focuses on getting the cast more directly involved with greenifying production. “We’ve piloted Equity’s Green Rider on a number of productions we’ve worked on, and it’s having a huge impact. In the past, we generally haven’t talked to cast members about sustainability, but they’re real people who worry about the planet too.” Smith describes how, once they started including the cast in the equation, they were always eager to help lessen their production’s output. “We’ll now routinely join cast read- throughs and talk them through what we’re trying to do. The hope is that, once the star of a film is interested, it makes the crew take more notice. Then, if they start to talk about it publicly on social media, they can help influence a wider conversation.” Measuring your impact Data is an enormous and complex piece of the puzzle. “We’ve spent years trying to collect accurate production data,” Smith adds. “To cut emissions, we have to measure them. One of the challenges is that the job of completing Albert certification has often been left to junior members of production, who might not have had any training in data collection.” Smith cites mounting pressures from all the broadcasters, which are demanding accurately reported data from productions. “I would caution any production company reading this article to pay attention. You need to start thinking about measures you can put in place
to achieve good-quality data because, if you don’t, you could find yourself getting caught out.” The BBC recently published its Net Zero Transition Plan, which featured some extremely strict decarbonisation targets for itself. “We’re seeing public service broadcasters starting to audit carbon data in the same way we would audit our budgets. At Picture Zero, we’re now able to work closely with productions to help them both understand and cater for this.”
HVO stands for hydrotreated vegetable oil; it’s a fuel that’s generally considered a good and sustainable alternative to traditional diesel. This offers significant environmental benefits, which includes a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and can be used in vehicles designed for standard diesel without modifications. It can HVO: Is it a yes or a no?
produce up to 90% fewer net CO2 emissions compared to fossil diesel, for a lower carbon footprint, and also creates less particulate matter – such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides – than diesel. However, there are concerns that some of the HVO production methods involve palm oil and deforestation. It’s a useful option for now, but not quite the answer.
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