Committing to Clean Energy and Building Accountability
Co-authored by Zena Harris, Andrew Robinson and Samantha Leigh
Acknowledging a problem is the first step required in order to begin implementing change. At the Sustainable Production Forum, panelists and participants alike clearly acknowledge the significant amounts of energy and resources required as a result of current film and television production methods. Clean energy technologies for productions and the infrastructure needed to improve access to them is a priority topic.
Many solutions already exist, helping us electrify and decarbonize today. And more solutions are just over the horizon.
After acknowledgement, our industry must commit to change. We must embrace industry practices that are future-fit. It’s up to professionals and practitioners throughout the production ecosystem to seek out and loudly signal a commitment to clean energy.
In this second of a series of articles, we build on the discussion to flesh out the transition to clean energy.
Global and Local Shifts
Moving away from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy an inevitable pathway for industries across the globe this century. The Statement on International Public Support for the Clean Energy Transition that emerged from COP26 clearly outlined this direction, with signatories agreeing to end most public spending on fossil fuels and remain on a pathway to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Glasgow Climate Pact also expressly signals the beginning of the end for fossil fuels and will help accelerate the transition to low-emissions energy systems.
The entertainment industry, as a major consumer of fossil fuels, has an important role to play in this global shift toward clean energy. So what are some ways in which we can assume that role?
During our “Getting to 2030! No Excuses!” panel in 2021, Linda K. Breggin (Environmental Law Institute) declared the biggest starting point for developing clean energy infrastructure: “policy-makers and elected officials need to hear from businesses that this is what would be helpful, and [clean energy infrastructure] is what they want.” All levels of governments have competing priorities. When industry stakeholders communicate their clean energy needs and clarify key starting points, they empower local governments to take action.
When industry stakeholders communicate their clean energy needs and clarify key starting points, they empower local governments to take action.
This is where our industry can provide a powerful market signal. We cannot find all the solutions ourselves; our productions work in and across multiple municipalities, an increasing number of which have declared climate emergencies. By stepping into our power, studios, productions, and industry organizations can communicate to local governments our clean infrastructure needs and potential barriers they could help address. Cities can respond by developing or incentivizing clean energy opportunities and reducing barriers to access. Such opportunities support not only our industry’s needs, but municipal government climate objectives as well, which benefit all stakeholders.
We are increasingly seeing local governments respond in support of our industry’s shift to clean energy. Vancouver, for instance, is one of several jurisdictions connecting productions to clean grid power. Geoffrey Teoli (Vancouver Film Office) shared in a previous Clean Energy Cities panel that efforts “all started with the [entertainment] industry coming to council and saying what they wanted. When our council heard that, it was a unanimous and easy decision for them.” As a result, Reel Green™ at Creative BC, industry stakeholders, and the City of Vancouver collaboratively spearheaded the exploration and development of over 30 grid tie-in power kiosks.
Today, Vancouver has become the leading clean energy city for film productions as they now have access to clean power at a growing number of locations — helping reduce emissions, noise, and contaminants from expensive fossil fuel generators. Recognizing the potential to accelerate a clean energy shift, the Vancouver Film Permit office established a further incentive by providing a 50% discount on daily film permits when productions replace diesel generators with clean power (i.e. portable battery packs or grid tie-ins).
Cities Want Clean Energy, Too
Many cities have or are developing policies like the London (UK) Assembly’s Clean Air movement and Metro Vancouver’s Clean Air Plan 2021, which prioritize reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) and air contaminant emissions that harm human health. As such, cities such as London and Toronto are being proactive, helping to meet their emission reduction needs while collaborating with our industry to align their efforts for mutual benefit.
In the UK, Film London has launched its Grid Project that connects productions to clean energy while filming on city locations. AT SPF21, Michelle Jenkins (Film London) acknowledged that the push to develop electrical grid tie-ins for productions was prioritized by the city and driven by residents who “insisted that they didn't want diesel generators on their street, full stop.”
Fossil fuel-burning generators are key sources of both GHGs and air contaminants. Reducing their use is a priority. As Bobby Donches (City of Toronto) noted in the same panel, the crews who work on productions are often residents of the city in which they are filming and would probably “love to participate in reducing their own emissions at work, and home, which is the same place.”
When government jurisdictions enact clean air policies, they engage all relevant stakeholders to prioritize infrastructure development. But even when cities move first, productions can support this change by asking about the city’s clean energy tie-in options. This expression of interest adds important momentum to the city’s infrastructure development projects.
Film and TV productions are increasingly engaging local governments, participating in planning processes, enquiring about green incentives, and leading the demand for clean energy infrastructure in a range of cities.
The possibility space for collaboration and commitment to clean energy solutions within a municipal grid content has generated unabated enthusiasm and robust discussion at SPF events. As a result, the clean energy signal is emerging from the noise. Film and TV productions are increasingly engaging local governments, participating in planning processes, enquiring about green incentives, and leading the demand for clean energy infrastructure in a range of cities. By committing to a clean energy transition and working collaboratively to find solutions, this powerful market signal accelerates sustainability progress across the industry and makes it easier for governments to implement change.
Committing and Building Accountability Within
Committing to decarbonize also requires building accountability within our industry. Every party in the entertainment industry has a role to play in advancing clean energy. Productions and production studios must clearly commit and be held accountable to prioritizing clean energy use.
Accountability can be built within and across our productions in many ways. There’s the role of studio and production-level policies: for instance, production studios have the ability to hold their productions accountable to using clean energy through specific mandates and requiring them to report back on what was and wasn’t possible to achieve on set. Notably, such policies have the power to shift thinking as it relates to sustainable practices. Instead of requesting that productions provide examples on how they “opted-in” on clean energy solutions by providing a rationale or business case to do so, productions could be requested to provide information on why they “opted-out” of pursuing sustainable solutions. This shifts the narrative from potential finger pointing (i.e. why weren’t green solutions pursued?), to one of production-specific accountability.
Productions, in turn, can hold their crews accountable by setting a carbon or fuel budget and request a rationale whenever clean energy options such as battery units from Portable Electric, MBS Equipment Company and Whites are not pursued. Unions and guilds can support and enable broader education and training policies to increase sustainable production literacy for their members. This provides the foundation for crew and the industry at large to normalize the shift toward clean energy. Every industry stakeholder should take responsibility to advance clean energy use, and hold their industry partners accountable as well.
By committing publicly to using clean energy, productions can hold themselves and their partners accountable to make real progress and achieve them.
As the opportunities afforded to us by exploring this policy space unfold in the near future, committing to clean energy and building accountability on-set can also begin by simply adopting industry best practices from resources such as the Green Production Guide or albert. Production studios and producers can also become signatories to the Creative Industries Pact For Sustainable Action and follow the simple road-map provided.
The first step in building accountability is equally simple: transparently communicate sustainability and clean energy objectives with vendors, suppliers, facilities, and our crews. By committing publicly to using clean energy, productions can hold themselves and their partners accountable to make real progress and achieve them.
Conclusion
Governments around the world and industries such as ours are striving to reduce emissions and keep global warming below the crucial threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius. The global shift toward clean energy is inevitable. As fossil fuel consumers, the entertainment industry can help amplify market demand to develop electric infrastructure.
This is already happening — productions just need to ask. The more productions that do, the louder the signal becomes and the quicker that clean energy infrastructure can be used to cut emissions.
