FEED Summer 2021 Web

Laura da Silva Gomes DigitalRG.net Sustainability director

When did you first realise the severity of the environmental crisis? At school in the early nineties, I decided to make a science project, studying how waste water is disposed. I was horrified by the amount that was simply sent back to our rivers. It didn’t make sense that we would pollute things, expecting them to be fine in the future. How will the climate crisis affect your business and the industry? My job is to increase awareness of the environmental and social impact that companies have. I explain to people that it is not one or the other. It is not either your business succeeds or you care for the environment – it has to be both. We must find ways to have businesses

that work for all stakeholders (including the environment) and shareholders, too. What changes have you made to get to zero carbon? What changes do you plan to make? A ‘silver lining’ of the Covid-19 crisis is that it’s easier to tell clients that work can be done from afar. I used to travel the globe and offset the emissions (not ideal). Now clients get it; there is a different way. We are also going through the process of becoming a benefit corporation, with clearer KPIs measuring our environmental impact. If you had the power to universally mandate one behavioural change, what would it be? I would love for people to immediately visualise and feel the long-term consequences of their decisions. Who is your favourite scientist (past or present)? All the scientists who persist in sounding the alarm, despite low pay, social media backlash and facing people with less understanding.

Jeff Poapst Ross Video Chief manufacturing & services officer

When did you first realise the severity of the environmental crisis? I became aware of the probable crises way back in the seventies, conducting a high-school project on

alternative energy sources. Subsequently, I was exposed to hydrogeological projections (my father was a water well driller in the Canadian Prairies) in the eighties. The severity of our situation was brought home for public consumption in a much more accessible way by the work of Al Gore. The film An Inconvenient Truth also played a role, starting Ross Video’s corporate carbon reduction efforts in earnest. Finally, I attended carbon literacy training a few years ago, reaffirming our corporate intentions. Our business, and the broadcasting industry in general, is already changing. It has been for some time, facilitated by the development of products and solutions with a smaller environmental footprint – reduced size, weight and power demands, and significantly more functionality. On the interpersonal side, a gradual reduction in air travel and increase in online interactions were accelerated significantly by the How will the climate crisis affect your business and the industry?

feedmagazine.tv

Powered by