How Sky upped its game on carbon to become an emissions pace-setter
When Sky became the world’s first media company to be awarded Carbon Neutral status – and only the second out of the FTSE 100 - it was certainly a move that turned heads.
Back in 2006 when Sky announced the move, although firms were beginning to make progress in the area of addressing their carbon emissions it was still seen as a progressive step.
What is more, most observers would probably have bet upon a public service broadcaster, such as the BBC, making the move rather than Sky, which is part of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s vast global empire.
But even those who question the motives of big business’ engagement with the sustainability agenda would find it hard to take issue with the broadcaster’s record. Its varied programme of initiatives includes:
- The £233m construction of Europe’s most sustainable broadcast facility for Sky Sports and its entertainment channels (due for completion next year).
- Rolling out smart electricity meters in all its buildings to measure electricity use, help identify potential savings and help employees reduce their energy usage.
- Working with key programming suppliers to ‘green’ television production through an initiative called Carbon Copies.
- Establishing a specialist environment team to facilitate change.
- Appointing ‘eco-ambassadors’ to champion environmental action in their areas alongside their day jobs through a heavyweight employee engagement programme.
- Sky News launched The Sky News Carbon Report in December at the close of the Copenhagen conference. As well as hard news on trends and forecasts, it also gives viewers simple tips on how reduce their own emissions.
Lucy Carver, director of The Bigger Picture, the part of the business that oversees responsibility projects, picks out Sky’s introduction of the world’s first auto-standby technology as one of the key achievements.
‘Now installed in all our set top boxes it is currently saving our customers around £20m a year on their energy bills and 90,000 tonnes of CO2 – almost twice Sky’s entire carbon footprint,’ she says.
What is impressive about Sky’s approach is the way it runs through all parts of the business from back of house carbon cutting through to educational programming. This is demonstrated by its latest project, Sky Rainforest Rescue.
he initiative is a three-year campaign with WWF to help save 1bn trees in the Amazon. The charity and broadcaster are calling for donations at www.sky.com/rainforestrescue, with every £10 helping to save 500 trees. To kick–start the project, Sky has pledged to match donations pound for pound, up to a joint target of £4m.
To bring this to life for viewers, Sky1 presenter Ross Kemp will visit the Amazon rainforest to investigate deforestation for two documentaries to be broadcast on Sky1 HD this year.
Reflecting on the project, Carver says: ‘We realised that as a media company we had an opportunity to make a wider impact by engaging with our customers and importantly giving them a way to take action.’
Having already achieved the target set in 2003 for a 10% reduction in CO2 by 2010, Sky, which is a holder of the Carbon Trust Standard, announced a new set of targets for further action against climate change. These new targets include an overall target to cut CO2 emissions by 25% (per £m/turnover) across Sky’s business by 2020.
Carver says Sky’s commitment help tackle climate change has helped the business become operationally efficient, which has not only benefited its bottom line but also the company’s reputation.
She concludes: ‘What some people haven’t cottoned onto yet is that businesses who take the lead on issues that consumers care about like the environment will benefit, because consumers are increasingly looking to invest their hard–earned cash with companies they can trust and which act on the issues that are important to them. ‘Building trust is extremely powerful for us. It drives loyalty not only with our own workforce, but also with our customers and this resonates with investors.’
