The DPP, the media industry’s business network, launched a major new initiative at their Annual Tech Leaders Briefing last week to promote environmentally sustainable practices among suppliers and content providers.
The DPP Committed to Sustainability Programme provides a self-assessment checklist that enables companies to record their progress in implementing sustainability policies, and awards them a score out of five accordingly. Completion of the assessment entitles a company to display the Committed to Sustainability mark, and to publicise their engagement with the Programme.
The score is private to the company concerned, but it can be used in procurement submissions, in marketing, and as a motivating force for further improvement. The DPP will monitor the average score for the media industry as a whole, and report regularly on the sector’s progress.
The Programme is available to all companies, free of charge, irrespective of whether they are a member of the DPP.
“We all have an obligation to take action to address the climate emergency.” says DPP Managing Director, Mark Harrison, “This programme creates a simple and effective means for all media companies to ensure they understand how they can minimise their environmental impact – and record their progress.”
The Committed to Sustainability Programme is enabled by DPP member company Atos, which, along with other members, shared its own expertise to help the DPP shape the new initiative.
Chief Digital Officer Kavi Pelpola, Atos UK & Ireland, says “The case for collective action at an industry level to help tackle the effects of climate change is compelling. We are delighted that Committed to Sustainability has been launched with close involvement and support from a broad range of partners. This programme is a clear signal of intent by the Media and Entertainment industry, and an important step on the road to reducing its environmental footprint in the UK in a tangible and coordinated way.”
As a member of the DPP and a sponsor of the Tech Leaders Briefing, we feel this is a bold and much needed move from the organisation, which will help drive real change in this sector. Protecting and caring for the environment is something close to our hearts at Reed Professional Services. Last year’s Ditch The Plastic campaign was a huge success, and resulted in us drastically cutting the amount of single-use plastic in our offices.
As part of the Reed Group (the first UK recruitment company to go carbon-neutral), we’re always looking for ways to further reduce our carbon footprint. That’s why earlier this year we planted 1,000 trees in partnership with One Tree Planted. That’s two trees for every project we’ve completed over the last 12 months.
Trees are incredibly important to ecosystems around the world, and help reduce global warming by filtering CO2 from the air. More than that, forests are habitats for endangered species and an important source of livelihood for communities local to them. The trees we’re planting will be sown in Ethiopia, helping communities and wildlife in the region. This lines up well with the Reed Group’s support of EthiopiAid, a Reed Group-run charity that aims to alleviate poverty in impoverished areas of the country.
We’re looking forward to making the pledge with the DPP to work towards our Committed to Sustainability mark, and hope our partner clients in the Broadcast sector (BBC, ITV, Sky) will also be leading the way.
