The Business Case

While it can seem cynical to speak about climate change in terms of upsides, the solution to climate change is nothing short of a second industrial and cultural revolution. The climate crisis calls on us to undertake a radical rethink of traditional operational and business models, and to use ambition and innovation to drive us forward rapidly.  

Companies that embrace meaningful climate action may benefit from reputational gains, making climate action a market differentiator for producers.  In addition, as the market for climate content and sustainably-made content increases, the sustainable producer has an edge in attracting buyers and clients, and in meeting buyers own sustainability mandates.

Our industry is built around talent and artists coming together to inform and entertain. They are the heart of any successful production. Consciousness and concern over climate change is growing and becoming more important to people. The company that can’t attract and retain top talent is at a disadvantage.

There are operational gains as well, as sustainability opens up conversations around operational efficiencies and innovations that can result in several benefits including cost savings.

Finally, embracing sustainability also involves looking at the issue from a risk management perspective which helps producers stay resilient in a changing climate.

As we humans have been busily pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere for over 150 years, a certain level of climate change is inescapable. The amount of future warming, however, is uncertain and depends on how fast we act in this decade.  We are likely to see more societal level impacts, which will in turn have indirect unpredictable impacts on our industry. We can already see that climate change increases some production and business risks, while introducing new ones.

The production sector faces numerous risks from climate change: increased operational costs due to extreme weather events, challenges in securing locations due to environmental degradation or protection efforts, growing compliance demands and pressures from interest-holders and talent to be more sustainable.

Producers may wish to add climate risks as part of their risk assessment processes.  Risks such as increased health and safety risks to crew, skill shortages, and financial and compliance risks are new, evolving, and have the potential to increase substantially in the coming years or decades.