The Mediavore s Dilemma The environmental footprint of print & digital media

Transcription

1 The Mediavore s Dilemma The environmental footprint of print & digital media Don Carli President Nima Hunter Inc. Senior Research Fellow The Institute for Sustainable Communication dcarli@sustaincom.org

2 Mediavore's Dilemma Just as families are increasingly giving thought to how the food they rely on is grown, processed and distributed... Buyers of media will be compelled to consider the flows of energy, raw materials, waste and human effort associated with the print and digital media products and the supply chains that they rely on... This is a trend being driven by increased calls for transparency & sustainability reporting coupled with the growth of social/local/mobile (SoLoMo) media platforms

3 All Media Supply Chains Have Environmental Footprints

4 Lifecycle Inventories

5 Product Level Lifecycle Reporting Why don't buyers have access to environmental product declarations for print & digital media products? What will it take?

6 Situation Analysis Advertisers, ad agencies and publishers are paying significant attention to green content... but they have largely ignored the lifecycle analysis of their media supply chains. Advertisers, ad agencies and publishers are significantly lagging behind sustainable supply chain practices of major brands. Print media manufacturer & print service provider green initiatives addressing eco-efficiency and lifecycle analysis are trailing the efforts of IT and digital media supply chain companies. The Mediavore's Dilemma is a Wicked Problem.

7 A Trillion Dollar Crisis of Opportunity Media supply chains employ millions of people and support trillions of dollars in global economic activity each year. Failure to implement 4X to 10X improvements in the ecoefficiency and systemic resilience of media supply chains will expose businesses, governments and society to potentially catastrophic risks. Significant advantage will accrue to the group of first movers who address the environmental risks and opportunities associated with their print and digital media supply chains.

8 A $4 Billion Dollar Opportunity "Currently, advertising suppliers are not explicitly included in our supplier survey associated with Ford's efforts to better understand the carbon footprint of its supply chain. John Viera Director of Sustainable Business Strategies Ford Motor Company At this time Ford's initial efforts are focused on direct first-tier suppliers providing higher carbon intensity commodities for vehicle production. However, beyond resources required for supplier engagement, we are not presently aware of any particular or unique barriers to measuring and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of advertising suppliers.

9 How Big is The Carbon Footprint of Advertising Supply Chains? Over $130 Billion is spent on advertising media products & services in the US each year. Using EIOLCA analysis the estimated greenhouse gas emissions associated with one year of US advertising expenditures would be 175 million Metric tonnes of CO2.

10 How Big is a Tonne of CO2? A metric ton of CO2 gas contained in a cube at standard atmospheric pressure would be 27 feet high by 27 feet wide by 27 feet deep. (19,000 cubic feet or 556 cubic meters.) A Metric tonne (Mt) weighs 1,000 kilograms (2,205 pounds) In the US the average person emits a Metric tonne of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gasses (MtCO2e) every two weeks or 7.5 MtCO2e per year. Worldwide, $740 in economic activity (GDP) results in the emission of a Metric tonne of CO2.

11 Media Supply Chain Impact Aspects: Commerce & Economic Activity Human Communication & Culture Quality of Life Innovation Energy Security Water Security Climate Change Biodiversity Resource Conservation Resilient Society & Communities Social Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Intergenerational Responsibility

12 The Majority of Pixels are Coal-Powered

13 Mountaintop Removal Coal Powers 25% of U.S. Electricity

14 Computers Don't Grow on Trees

15 IT Networks Have Footprints

16 E-Waste is A Mounting Toxic Problem

17 Pressures for Supply Chain Disclosure Legislation Regarding Conflict Minerals in Electronics Regulatory Guidelines on Climate Risk Disclosure EPA Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Ruling RoHS/WEEE/REACH & EPA StEP E-Waste Regulation FTC Green Marketing Guidelines Carbon Disclosure Project Pressure DJSI, FTSE & Other Sustainability Indexes Sustainability Related Proxy Actions by Activist Investors (eg. AsYouSow) Walmart Sustainability Consortium Product Lifecycle Initiatives Sustainable Supply Chain Scorecards from Walmart & Others State Climate Change Regulations & Green Procurement Policies The Growing Influence of Green Consumers Social Media Brand Scrutiny Spillover into Mainstream Media

18 Pressure from Retail Leaders

19 Sustainability Consortium Leaders

20 P&G s Supplier Sustainability Initiative

21 P&G s Supplier Scorecard Click to edit the outline text format Second Outline Level Third Outline Level Click to edit the outline text format Second Outline Level Third Outline Level Fourth Outline Level Fourth Outline Level Fifth Outline Level Sixth Outline Level Seventh Outline Level

22 Key Takeaways Neither print nor digital media supply chains are sustainable as currently configured. Print and digital media supply chains need to be sustainable, resilient, secure and interconnected. Increased regulation of green marketing claims will create new risks for those making environmental claims that are not specific and substantiated. Lifecycle thinking, lifecycle analysis and environmental product declarations are key to reducing risk and making media supply chain choices sustainable. Standards-based Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) useful for cross media comparisons require relevant functional unit definitions and agreement on material lifecycle boundary conditions. New levels of multi-stakeholder dialogue, collaborative problem solving and investment are essential.

23 Join an inclusive coalition of advertisers, ad agencies, media companies and media supply chain companies being coordinated by the Institute for Sustainable Communication to: Demonstrate leadership in addressing the sustainability of print & digital media Develop standards-based functional unit, lifecycle inventory boundaries and product category rules for print and digital media products & services Develop an open source LCI database for print & digital media planners and media buyers Develop a joint roadmap for the synergistic transformation of print & digital media supply chains Support the identification, quantification & disclosure of the energy security, water, biodiversity, climate and other environmental risks associated with print and digital media supply chains Develop an investment fund to finance print & digital media supply chain transformation projects that conserve resources, eliminate waste, generate alternative energy, retrofit facilities or develop capacity for supply chain diversity and inclusion

24 Questions?