problems facing the media industry. Powell thinks it’s essential for the media industry to start outreach and collaboration with specialists outside what is traditionally an insular industry. EUROPE IN THE LEAD Altman Solon’s survey confirmed that Europe is leading the way in sustainability action. Though few would seriously suggest that any region is doing enough to head off the environmental crisis, Europe has been the first to give regulatory teeth to sustainability practices. Even Europe’s GDPR privacy standard, introduced in 2016, was a sustainability initiative in that it was aimed at regulating the use of tech to further human wellbeing. The new CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) regulation requires all large and listed companies (except listed micro- enterprises) to disclose the impact of their activities on people and the environment, and will have ripple
effects beyond Europe. Brexit – as it was intended to do – saves UK companies from having to comply with regulations like CSRD. However, with the EU being the UK’s biggest trading partner, the legislation will have an effect on any UK company that wants to do business with Europe. The US, where corporations have had much more influence over the legislative process, has a much slower rate of adoption around sustainability. A report from the IEA (International Energy Agency) estimated that the European media industry was about five years ahead of the US industry in adoption of sustainable practices. But there is still movement; California, which is one of the world’s biggest media hubs, has a far better record than the US as a whole. The Inflation Reduction Act, passed by President Biden’s administration, is a groundbreaking piece of legislation that incentivises investment in low- carbon energy. “In Europe, the market is a lot more fragmented, so you have more small- and medium-sized companies who can move very quickly and provide the right support to meet compliance requirements,” notes Powell. “In the US, you have a lot of bigger companies where there’s inertia, as well as planning and resource constraints. It’s like moving the Titanic. They are willing to move – it’s just a bit slower. “Even though we saw some pushback around Scope 3 reporting in the US business community, as well as some legislation being delayed, we still saw companies already making investments. I think that was due to a lot of advocacy at the grassroots
SUSTAINABILITY IS NO LONGER SOME ARCANE PROCUREMENT PRACTICE YOU OCCASIONALLY MENTION IN REPORTS TO THE STAKEHOLDERS
WATCH ME! Flint Forum’s ‘Virtual production as a sustainability tool’
@feedzinesocial
Powered by FlippingBook