The recent IPCC report (Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change) makes clear that we now face a “Code Red for Humanity” and if you are not convinced by mere words, pictures of wildfires from the Mediterranean to Siberia and “heat domes” over the Pacific Northwest should be enough. Climate change is just one of the areas where humanity is pushing at natural environmental limits. Pollution and reductions in biodiversity are other examples where our collective abuse of the environment is now only too apparent.
While governments need to act, we as media engineers, technologists and practitioners can and must play our part. The IET Media Technical Network is running a year long series of events designed to help our members, fellow engineers and colleagues understand these issues, analyse the implications for our industry and share actionable know-how.
The media industry is in a good position as our business is mainly about moving bits and as someone once said, we don’t need to move atoms to do that. That change is relatively easy for us, means that we have a responsibility to make the best changes we can to reduce the environmental impact of our industry. We are a large and growing industry, so our actions matter. We are also a prominent industry and can use our visibility to influence suppliers, viewers and decision makers.
There is a wider debate about how to tackle the climate emergency and other issues of sustainability. However, we want to focus on the things that the broadcast and media engineers and practitioners can do to make our industry more sustainable.
Sustainability is now a mainstream consideration in the political, social, investment and engineering realms. However, most of the environmental indicators are still moving the wrong direction. The most notable example is the continued rise of C02 in the atmosphere. There is also a spike of methane and continued loss of biodiversity.
During our events, we want to promote the work that has already been done and to look at the challenges ahead. For engineers and colleagues working in our industry, there are an increasing number of resources to support sustainable development. See below for a list which includes links carbon calculators, case studies and industry initiatives to spread good practice.
In my view, engineering is where science and technology meet financial and business realities. It’s not so long ago that product managers would only focus on the bottom line, but now the growth of ethical and green investment and corporate reporting allows, and more often demands, that new products and services are engineered to be sustainable. This means we have a window of opportunity to move our industry to a sustainable footprint.
To finish on an optimistic note, consider the recent analysis of the Montreal Treaty of 1987 which shows that humanity dodged a bullet by early and decisive action to switch from CFCs . This not only prevented disastrous exposure to UV for all life on Earth but also stopped an extra contribution to climate change. Shifting from the carbon economy and reducing our environmental footprint to sustainable levels will be much harder than the switch from CFCs, but we have shown what can be done when we face common problems together.
Launch Event Join us for our launch event on 9th September at 3pm UK. This will be a one hour panel with Marianne Matthews, Head of Responsible Business at Sky, Pedro Bandiera, VP of Product and New Business, Deutsche Telekom Europe and the IET's own James Robottom, Sustainability and Climate Change Lead. This event is free to attend and is open to IET members, non-members, engineers and anyone with an interest in the subject. The panel will be followed by opportunities for all participants to discuss these and related topics as well as one to one networking.
Useful Resources
IET Strategy 2030 “For 150 years the IET has existed for the sole purpose of Working to Engineer a Better World. It is our mission to inspire, inform and influence the global engineering community, supporting technology innovation to meet the needs of society.”
https://tech.ebu.ch/groups/spsm From the EBU – “Sustainability for Public Service Media - Collaboration with Members to understand sustainability and how to implement it.”
Bafta Albert “We are the authority on environmental sustainability for film + TV. This is the place to share, learn and act on our impact. We're funded by the industry, allowing us to make our tools, training and resources totally free to use.”
Sky - Bigger Picture “We believe better business creates a better world. That’s why we push ourselves to achieve the highest standards of sustainability and responsibility. It’s why we use our voice to make a difference, campaigning for positive change on the big issues of our time. We believe in better.”
"Climate change is one of the biggest threats to our human existence. The BBC’s sustainability strategy commits the corporation to making a positive environmental impact. Changing technology, particularly the move to IP represents an opportunity for us to innovate and reduce the environmental impact of our services"
Greening of Streaming A membership organisation launching on 9th September to “address the growing concerns about the energy impact of the Streaming sector”
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ 17 Goals to Transform Our World The Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection. More important than ever, the goals provide a critical framework for COVID-19 recovery.
https://www.globalreporting.org/about-gri/ GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) is the independent, international organization that helps businesses and other organizations take responsibility for their impacts, by providing them with the global common language to communicate those impacts. We provide the world’s most widely used standards for sustainability reporting – the GRI Standards.
The GRI secretariat is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and we have a network of seven regional hubs ensuring we can support organizations and stakeholders worldwide.
https://www.deutscher-nachhaltigkeitskodex.de/ The [German] Sustainability Code provides a framework for reporting on non-financial performance that can be used free of charge by organisations and companies of all sizes and legal forms. Would you also like to issue a declaration of conformity? Find out how it works!
